The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today emphasized the need to educate people on the importance of covid-19 vaccination and urged all stakeholders to work collectively to achieve the target of full vaccination by year end.

The Vice President made these remarks on the occasion of Doctors’ Day during a book presentation to him by the well known nephrologist, Dr Georgi Abraham in Chennai today. The book titled as “MY PATIENTS MY GOD- JOURNEY OF A KIDNEY DOCTOR” chronicles the professional journey of Dr Abraham as a doctor, educationist and researcher over the past four decades.

On this occasion, Shri Naidu underlined the need to address vaccine hesitancy in some sections of the population, especially in rural areas. There is a need to dispel fears in some sections and the vaccination drive should turn into a truly pan-India ‘Jan Andolan’, he said and urged the medical fraternity to take a lead in creating awareness and educating the people on the importance of getting themselves vaccinated.

Stating that community support is critical in our fight against Corona virus, the Vice President said that those having vaccine hesitancy should be made aware of the fact that they are putting their own lives and those of their family members at avoidable risk.

Asking the Centre and States to work together in ‘Team India’ spirit to quicken the pace of the vaccine campaign, the Vice President appealed to civil society members and icons in various fields including film personalities, sportspersons and people’s representatives cutting across party lines, to come forward and encourage people to go for vaccination. We need to understand that vaccination has to be a collective responsibility of us all, he added.

Observing that rapid vaccination was the key to defeating the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vice President mentioned that India has already administered more than 32 crore doses surpassing the total number of vaccinations done in the United States.

Talking about the sacrifices of the healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vice President said that they are exposing themselves to grave risk in saving the lives of those infected by deadly virus. Referring to Indian Medical Association figure of nearly 1500 members of the medical fraternity succumbing to Covid-19, Shri Naidu said that this shows their unmatched dedication towards their profession and commitment to the Hippocratic Oath. Thanking the healthcare professionals for their selfless service to humanity, Shri Naidu said that Nation shall ever remain grateful for their sacrifice.

Mentioning the theme for this year’s Doctors’ Day - ‘Save the Saviour’, the Vice President stressed the need to ensure safety and well-being of our doctors who are rendering yeoman service during this unprecedented health emergency caused by COVID-19.

Referring to ‘Vaidyo Narayano Hari’, he highlighted the place of respect and reverence accorded to doctors by Indian society and urged the doctors to bring in a personal touch while treating their patients.

Maintaining that our country has inherent strength of knowledge and trained manpower, Shri Naidu appreciated the scientists, researchers and doctors who raced against the time to develop safe and effective vaccines and other essential items such as PPE kits, testing kits and ventilators

He also paid tributes to renowned doctor, educationist and freedom fighter, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy whose birth anniversary is commemorated as Doctors’ Day.

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MS/RK/DP