PM Narendra Modi says mother Heeraben has received first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that his mother Heeraben had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The PM announced this on Twitter. People of age 65 and above and those of age 45 and above, who have co-morbidities, are eligible to get the COVID-19 jab in the second phase of India’s mass-vaccination drive.

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“Happy to share that my mother has taken the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today,” Modi tweeted.

“I urge everyone to help and motivate people around you who are eligible to take the vaccine,” he added.

The PM himself received the first dose of the vaccine shot on March 1, the first day of phase II of India’s vaccination drive. He was administered ‘Covaxin’, India’s indigenous coronavirus vaccine, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.

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Several of Modi’s Cabinet and party colleagues have received the vaccine in the second phase.

Other than Covaxin, India has granted approval to AstraZeneca/Oxford University’s vaccine, which is being manufactured at Pune’s Serum Institute.

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India started its mass inoculation drive against the disease on January 6. More than 25 million people have received at least the first dose of either of the two vaccines approved by the country, as per the Union Health Ministry.