Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and his wife Kanchan Gadkari on Saturday took the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Nagpur.
Mr Gadkari said that the "COVID-19 vaccine is safe" and appealed to people to come forward for vaccination.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi and appealed to all those who are eligible to get inoculated.
Several other union ministers, including Amit Shah, S Jaishakar, Jitendra Singh and politicians have also received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the second phase of the world's largest vaccination drive.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, 2021, and the vaccination of the Frontline Workers (FLWs) started on February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
As many as 18,327 new COVID-19 cases and 108 deaths were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Saturday. The country's overall COVID-19 cases tally has reached 1,11,92,088, including 1,80,304 active cases while the death toll has mounted to 1,57,656.According to the health ministry, a total of 1,94,97,704 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus so far.
