26-year-old first to be vaccinated at BKC centre in Maharashtra CM’s presence

Dr Madhura Patil, 26, became the first beneficiary of the Covid-19 vaccine at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) facility in the presence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. A dietitian working with the Asian Heart Hospital in BKC, Dr Patil has been working with Covid-19 patients at the BKC centre for the past six months.

“When I came to know that I’ve been selected for the vaccine, I was more than willing to take it. We’ve been working hard throughout the pandemic, and this vaccination phase dedicated to us is something that every healthcare and frontline worker should take benefit of,” Dr Patil said, adding that she did not experience any adverse effect after getting the shot.

“My family has also supported me to get the vaccine administered and I’d like to appeal to all the citizens to not believe in any rumour and get themselves immunised, as the government has rolled out the vaccine after extensive research and study,” said Patil who has been in the healthcare field for six years.

‘Have faith in scientists’

The second vaccine beneficiary at BKC centre, Dr Manoj Panchange, said, “I’ve been working at the BKC Covid-19 centre for almost 10 months now. I got myself immunised as I’ve faith in scientists who have worked day and night to ensure that our country gets a timely vaccine. I’d like to appeal to all the citizens to not believe in rumours and get vaccinated as soon as it’s rolled out for the general public.”

‘No fear after working with Covid-19 patients closely’

Thirty-three-year-old Kiran Damse, who works with Kurla’s Bhabha Hospital, has been a healthcare worker for the past 12 years.

“For the past ten months, I’ve been taking care of Covid-19 patients. So there is no fear left within me, as I have seen Covid-19 patients so closely,” he said when asked if he was worried about taking the shot. Damse had decided to get the vaccine a week ago but got to know that he has been selected as one of the beneficiaries for Day 1 of the vaccination drive only last night. “My family is very supportive about me getting vaccinated. My wife also is a healthcare worker and we both have decided to get vaccinated.”

‘Trust professionals from our fraternity’

Fifty-three-year-old nurse Lata Salunkhe, who works at BMC health clinic, was among the set of vaccine recipients who received the shot at BKC. She said, “There were fears of side-effects due to the vaccine. However, I have not developed any health complications after getting the vaccination administered. As a healthcare worker, I trust the professionals from our fraternity. “Now my family is among the citizens who are waiting for vaccination programme to start for the general public.”

Former health minister, wife get the shot

Former health minister and Shiv Sena legislator Dr Deepak Sawant was the first beneficiary to receive the Covishield vaccine at Cooper Hospital. “I received a message yesterday Friday from BMC about the vaccination schedule,” he said. Dr Sawant and his wife Dr Anila were vaccinated around 11.15am. They were asked to wait in the observation room to check if they experienced any health complications. The couple exited the hospital shortly without developing any adverse effect.

Doc with comorbidities gets the vaccine

Dr Ninad Gaikwad was the third recipient after the Dr Sawant and Dr Anila to get vaccinated at Cooper hospital. “It’s a completely safe vaccine. There were no side effects. I had no idea that I will be the third person to get vaccinated until I got a call from BMC yesterday to inform about today’s schedule. I have comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes. After the vaccination, I was asked to rest for 30 minutes at the waiting room,” said Dr Gaikwad, who heads ENT department at Cooper hospital.

Doctor from hospital that conducted SII vaccine’s trial gets the shot

Dr Milind Nadkar, academic dean, head of medicine department, King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, was the first beneficiary of the vaccine at the hospital. He said, “KEM Hospital was the first centre to start the clinical trial of Covishield. So it is a proud moment for me to get its first vaccine. I hope this step will motivate others to come forward and take the vaccine which will contribute in attaining herd immunity in the society against the Covid-19 outbreak.”

Proud moment to get first dosage of indigenous vaccine: JJ hospital dean

“Our hospital is one of the hospitals to conduct the clinical trials for Covaxin. So it is a proud moment for us to take the dosage of the first indigenous vaccine. We have been working round the clock during the pandemic and now finally, we have got the vaccine. We encourage healthcare workers to come forward and take the vaccine,” said Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, dean of the state government-run Sir JJ Hospital. Dr Mankeshwar was the first to take Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in Mumbai. He had to sign a consent form before taking the vaccine.

Retired anaesthetist is first recipient at Nair hospital

“I have been waiting for days to get vaccinated. I got a call yesterday on Friday and was asked if I was ready to participate in the immunisation programme. I readily agreed and I am quite thrilled that I received the vaccine,” said retired anaesthetist Dr Dilnaz Devadhvala.

Dean first to get vaccinated at Sion hospital

“We have seen people around us getting infected and dying because of the Covid-19 outbreak. But now we have the vaccine that can help us to win the war against Covid-19. So we have to make sure that we take both shots of the vaccination. So far, we haven’t seen any kind of adverse effect among the beneficiaries,” said Dr Mohan Joshi, the dean of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion hospital). Dr Joshi was the first recipient of the Covishield vaccine at the hospital.