THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the mass vaccination of senior citizens began, the Health Minister KK Shailaja set an example by taking the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Medical College Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. The 64-year-old minister received the Covishield vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca. She came along with her husband K Bhaskaran who also took the first dose.
Later, the Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan also received the vaccine from the same centre while Ports Minister Kadannapally Ramachandran took the vaccine from District Hospital in Kannur. The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is likely to take the vaccine in a day or two.
The vaccination for people aged 60 and above and those in the age group of 45-59 with co-morbidities has started from Monday. The Health Minister said the state would explore the possibility of starting mass vaccination centres to speed up the process. There are over 1000 centres including private hospitals for vaccination. A mass vaccination centre was also started in Thiruvananthapuram on a trial
basis. “The registration should be done through the portal which has a slight technical glitch,” said the minister.
The minister said she wanted to take the vaccine in the first stage to allay the concerns of public. However, a specific instruction from the Prime Minister's Office made her to back off and wait for her turn in the priority list.
"There shall be no hesitation in taking the vaccine. At the same time the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour must be followed even after the vaccination. It takes at least 14 days for the immunity to build up. The second dose shall be taken after 28 days,” she said. According to her, the government had asked the Centre to allot more vaccine centres and doses to speed up the vaccination process.