Odisha becomes first state to pause COVID-19 vaccination drive; here’s why

Sanitation worker Biranchi Naik was the first person to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in Odisha.

Moneycontrol News

January 16, 2021 / 21:10 IST

Odisha became the first state to halt the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for a day. The Odisha administration decided not to conduct the coronavirus vaccination drive on January 17 to observe if those who received the COVID-19 vaccine on January 16 developed any complication from the jab.

“We want to observe those who took the vaccine. From Monday, the vaccination drive will continue till all 3.28 lakh health workers are inoculated,” said Pradipta Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), Odisha, on January 16.

Odisha Govt to halt #COVID19Vaccination tomorrow to observe those who took vaccine today.
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Pradipta Mohapatra, Addl Chief Secy (Health), says, "We want to observe those who took vaccine. From Monday, it'll continue till completion of vaccination of all 3.28 Lakh health workers." pic.twitter.com/FzvNwtgDrE
— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2021

The immunisation was conducted across 161 session sites in 30 districts of Odisha on day one of the coronavirus vaccination drive.

Sanitation worker Biranchi Naik (51) was the first person to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in Odisha. He got his vaccine shot at Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar at 11.05 am. The second person to receive the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in Odisha was orthopaedic surgeon Dr Laxmidhar Sahu, Director, Capital Hospital.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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