The recipients of COVID-19 vaccine will not have a say with regard to the two choices — Covishield and Covaxin — but they will have to sign a consent form if they are administered the latter.
This was informed by Director of Medical Education K. Ramesh Reddy and Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao at a press conference in the city on Friday. They said distribution of brands to vaccination centres was dependent on their geographical location and operations internal to Health department. So, the recipients will have to accept whatever vaccine comes their way.
They will be given the second dose of the same brand after a gap of 28 days. Both vaccines are same in nature. They, however, insisted that the acceptance of vaccine was totally voluntary.
The senior officials allayed apprehensions about adverse reactions to vaccines, stating that inherently there could be mild fever, redness around the injected area and pain in the hand where the shot is given. But, they were all indications that the vaccine is working, they claimed.
The vaccination will result in development of anti-bodies which kill the virus and break its cycle. This has been the experience from vaccination against swine flu. Now, there are no swine flu cases in the State, Dr. Ramesh Reddy said.
‘No adverse reaction’
He added that there are no cases of death or serious adverse reactions due to COVID vaccination anywhere in the world.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan will inaugurate the vaccination drive at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences at 11.30 a.m. and Health Minister Eatala Rajender will do the honours at the Gandhi Hospital.
Ministers, MPs and legislators will also be involved in the programme in their respective districts.
An indelible mark will be put on the thumb of the recipients to aid in identification during the second dose.
