Kerala Health Minister, 2 Cabinet Colleagues Take First Dose Of Covid-19 Vaccine

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja on Tuesday received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the government medical college hospital here as the second phase of the vaccination drive progressed in the State.

While Revenue minister E Chandrasekharan received the jab from the vaccination centre at the same hospital,Minister of Ports and Museums Kadannappally Ramachandran got the shot from a hospital in his home district, Kannur.

Urging everyone to take part in the vaccination drive, 64-year-old Shailaja later said the initiative was going on smoothly in the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other cabinet colleagues informed they would take the vaccine in the coming days, the minister said.

"So far, four lakh people have been vaccinated in the state. No serious side effect has been reported so far," Shailaja said.

Over 1000 centres have already been set up in various districts across the state for people to take the jab, she said.

Apart from this, a mass vaccination centre was set up in Thiruvanathapuram recently on an experimental basis.

The possibility of similar mass centres would also be looked into in the coming days so that more people can get vaccinated at the same time, she said.

To get vaccinated, everyone should register at the prescribed portal beforehand and the shot should be taken on a priority basis.

Barring a slight technical issue while registering, there were no other hurdles reported in Kerala in connection with the registration, the minister added.

Urging people to take the second dose also without any fail after 28 days, Shailaja said they should not assume that they would be immune after receiving the first dose.

Immunity would be achieved only 14 days after that, she said, adding people should be vigilant till then.

Stating that the state's fight against COVID-19 was progressing in a scientific manner, she said though the viral infection was first reported in the country in Kerala, its peak was last seen here.

In other states, the death toll rose sharply as the graph scaled up.

"At the same time, the mortality rate in Kerala is still 0.4 per cent," she added.