Tamil Nadu is all set to unveil the COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday so is the rest of the country as India prepares to make a medical breakthrough in containing the COVID-19 through the two indigenous vaccines. Thousands of healthcare workers including the top doctors in Tamil Nadu receive the vaccine on the first day. 

According to reports, at least eleven reputed doctors in the state including Apollo Hospitals Chairman Dr. Prathap Reddy, Dr. MGR Medical University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Sudha Seshayyan, and ENT surgeon Dr. Mohan Kameshwaran will be receiving the vaccine on Saturday at the vaccination centers. In what would become the largest vaccination drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be beginning the event in Delhi to start the drive to cover three crore frontline workers. 

After the Prime Minister launched the event, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami will inaugurate the drive from Rajaji Government General Hospital in Madurai and the healthcare workers will begin inoculating doctors, nurses, medical staff, paramedics, and other frontline workers. The reports say that 166 centers -both government and private were installed in Tamil Nadu. 

Tamil Nadu has received 5.56 lakh doses of vaccines - 5.36 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech and all these vaccines are stored in these centers. The director of public health said that Covaxin will be available in six centers and beneficiaries can make a choice between the vaccines at these six centers.

Tamil Nadu's first COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to Dr. Senthil, who is the Chief of Doctors' association in Madurai and he will be vaccinated in Madurai Rajaji Hospital on Saturday in the presence of the Chief Minister and senior authorities. The Prime Minister said that the Center will bear the expenses for the first-phase vaccination of around three crore health workers and frontline staff.  The Center had acquired over 11 million doses of Covishield at Rs 200 each and the vaccine should be priced Rs 1,000 per dose when it hit the private market in the country.