'Smooth and no pain!' Uday Kotak receives first shot of COVID-19 vaccine

Billionaire banker and MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak on Tuesday took the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine. The 61-year-old banker took to Twitter and shared his picture of getting vaccinated. Kotak wrote, "Happy to share that I took the first shot of the vaccine this morning. Smooth and no pain".

Phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from Monday for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too took Bharat Biotech's Covaxin shot on Monday and shared a picture of the same on Twitter.Apart from PM Modi and Uday Kotak, many union ministers have also taken their first doses of a vaccine against COVID-19.

Home Minister Amit Shah was administered the first dose of the vaccine at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu took his first dose of the vaccine at Government Medical College, Chennai on March 1. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took his first jab yesterday.

Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy were administered the Covishield vaccine at Narayana Hrudalaya, Bengaluru.

Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said she got vaccinated at Narayana Health on March 1. Shaw took a dose of Covishield and said the experience was "painless no injection-related side effects".

Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik also took their jabs on March 1.

As per Union Health Ministry data, a total of 1,28,630 beneficiaries over 60 years of age and 18,850 aged 45 and above with co-morbidities took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with the inoculation of healthcare workers, while the vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2.

So far, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 1.47 crore.

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