TN Health Minister administered Covaxin shot

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar received Bharat Biotech's Covaxin shot in Chennai on Friday.

The minister, who is a medical doctor and also a member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) took the jab at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here, as part of the nationwide vaccination campaign against the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I am doing this as a doctor and a member of the IMA, to instill confidence among Health Care Workers. I request all to get vaccinated and safeguard themselves from Covid", tweeted the Minister on Friday.

On January 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched India's vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus via video conferencing.

Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

The drug regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

( With inputs from ANI )