Shillong, Jan 16: Among the initial people who volunteered to get vaccinated for Coronavirus, NEIGRIHMS, Director P Bhattacharya and Medical Superintendent Suvamoy Chakraborty were the prominent ones.

The much-awaited Coronavirus vaccination drive begins in Meghalaya along with the rest of the country. For the country battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination is perhaps the only immediate hope and this ‘Made in India’ vaccination is a challenging task for the state.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes vaccine hesitancy as the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines that threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2019, WHO listed “vaccine hesitancy” as among the top 10 threats to global health.

Inspiring people to get vaccinated, NEIGRIHMS, Director P Bhattacharya said that he along with the medical superintendent of the institute took the vaccination to send a message to the society that the vaccine is safe and is for protection.

Urging people not to give in to social media negative remarks on vaccines, Bhattacharya said that the reaction to any medicine is always there and it is not new and a lot of research has been put in for this vaccine which the people should trust.

Meanwhile, the Medical Superintendent of the Institute, Suvamoy Chakraborty said that he has taken the vaccine and is feeling absolutely fine.

” We are exposed to COVID for the last one year and had a difficult time and we are taking the vaccine as we want to protect ourselves,” said the Medical Superintendent.

Around 100 health care workers were today vaccinated at NEIGRIHMS. Apparently, this is the only hospital in Shillong identified as sites for Coronavirus vaccination for the first phase.