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

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. 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.

The state vaccinated around 16,000 healthcare and frontline workers on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Odisha received a total of 4.08 lakh doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine Covishield, which is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India in the country, and another 20,000 doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in the first lot.