Tami Nadu Health Minister Vijayabaskar has on Wednesday decided to take a major leap towards allaying fears among the public over the efficacy of the two indigenous COVID-19 vaccines amid the largest vaccination drive, which India has recently unfolded.  Vijayabaskar said that he will be taking the dose of the vaccine in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai. 

Vijayabaskar would become one of the first-line health ministers in India to receive the vaccine and his decision has come when the Central government has said that the initial phase of the vaccination drive would prioritize the frontline healthcare workers and not the ministers and politicians. The minister said that he would be receiving the vaccine in his capacity as a doctor and member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

He put out his decision on Wednesday and said, "There was hesitation initially, but we have overcome it. That's the reason I will be taking the vaccine on Friday at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, not as a minister but as a doctor and a member of IMA". 

He was responding to the question amid major concerns that were surfaced around the vaccines and it's efficacies. The statement from the health minister on getting vaccinated has come days after Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Radhakrishnan has got vaccinated. 

While Radhakrishnan received the dose of Covaxin, which was developed by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech, in Trichy, the reports say that it is unclear whether the health minister would be receiving the doses of Covaxin and Covishield. On Wednesday, Vijayabaskar was inspecting thbaske arrival of the vaccines and said that Tamil Nadu had already received 5.36 lakh Covishield vaccines and 20,000 Covaxin doses. Totally, the state has received 5.56 lakh Covishild and Covaxin vaccines in the first consignment.

The minister further stated that the Central government has on Wednesday sent another consignment of 5,85,000 Covishield vaccines which had arrived in the Chennai airport. According to reports, 25,908 frontline workers in Tamil Nadu have been administered the vaccine so far as of Tuesday while the government had identified a total of 6 lakh frontline workers to cover in the first phase of the vaccination drive.