Health Minister K K Shailaja interacts with healthcare workers in Kannur after reviewing the preparations for Covid vaccination in the district on Saturday. She said every individual in the state will be administered the vaccine | Express KOttayAM l Sunday l january 17, 2021 l `8.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Two lakh health workers get vaccine on day one new delhi bengaluru hyderabad kochi bhubaneswar vizag (From left) AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria getting the first dose of Covishield vaccine in New Delhi. Phase-I of the nationwide drive was reserved for healthcare workers in the frontline of the battle against Covid-19 | Shekhar yadav, Meghana Sastry, Vinay madapu, Sanesh saka, & G Satyanarayana Health ministry claims no cases of post-inoculation hospitalisation; Bharat Biotech to compensate Covaxin recipients in case of adverse reaction Sign consent form to get Covaxin shot Even though politicians were not supposed to get the vaccine shots in Over 60% of the targeted 3 lakh-plus the first phase, there were reports of healthcare workers scheduled to get several Trinamool Congress leaders, the Covid-19 vaccine on the first day including two MLAs, receiving the of the vaccination programme took Covid-19 vaccine in West Bengal’s the shot on Saturday, the Purba Bardhaman district Adverse Union health ministry said. on Saturday. It created a events in It added that 3,351 sessions controversy with many Delhi, MH were held throughout the healthcare workers also alcountry wherein 1,91,181 At least 52 cases leging that they could not b e n e f i c i a r i e s w e r e of adverse events get the jab, according to mevaccinated. dia reports. were reported The ministry had earlier Talking to reporters, adamong health said at every 3,006 vaccina- workers who were ditional secretary in the tion centres throughout the administered the health ministry Manohar country, 100 beneficiaries Agnani claimed there were coronavirus each would be vaccinated vaccine in Delhi on no reports of hospitalisaon the first day Though the . tion after vaccination from Saturday, immediate reasons for the anywhere in the country . according to fewer than targeted number However, official figures official figures. of vaccinations achieved showed that in Delhi alone, Maharashtra was not shared, govern- reported another 52 cases of AEFI (adverse ment sources conceded that events following immunisa14 such cases at most places, less than the tion) were reported among invited beneficiaries had turned up. health workers post vaccination. Of In the first phase, the government these one case turned out to be severe plans to vaccinate 1 crore healthcare that required hospitalisation. workers followed by 2 crore frontline The Co-WIN software designed for workers comprising police, paramili- the vaccination drive also reported P7 tary and defence personnel. technical glitches.  E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi S u m i S u k a n ya D u t ta @ New Delhi Signing a consent form is mandatory to get Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin jab. While the form makes it clear that Bharat Biotech will be liable to pay compensation in case of serious adverse events following immunisation, it is silent on the amount. The form is attached with the vaccine, whose efficacy is yet to be proven. It has been launched on ‘clinical trial mode’, as mandated by the Drug Controller General of India. Sources in the Union Health Ministry and the ICMR said that Covaxin recipients are required to sign the consent form, which assures medical care and compensation if any adverse effect linked to the vaccine was found. The government has procured 55 million doses of Covaxin for the first phase of the nationwide vaccination drive. However, doctors have raised concerns over being inoculated with a vaccine that is still under trial. In several states, like in Delhi, Covaxin is being offered only at Centrally-run hospitals; healthcare workers are not given the choice of vaccine. Kerala vaccinates 8,062, misses target by 39% due to app glitch E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram CM intervenes, wants maestro school to be reality S h a i n u M o h a n @T’Puram AFTER TNIE reported on sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s decision to drop his plan for an international music school at Veli here, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has intervened in the matter to ensure the project becomes a reality The chief . minister’s office contacted former Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi chairman Soorya Krishnamoor- thy who had officially commu, nicated the maestro’s decision to the authorities, urging him not to back out from the project. In a report published on Friday (January 15) titled ‘Put off by govt’s sour note, Amjad Ali Khan drops music school project’, TNIE had said the legendary musician’s decision came in the wake of a new set of terms put forward by the state govern- ment. According to the report, with the ustad and myself to the government had proposed a ensure it is realised,” said huge annual lease amount for Krishnamoorthy . the two-acre land earmarked in Though the previous UDF Veli tourism village, government had dein addition to dethe express cided to hand overthe manding the incluland for free, impact project got entangled sion of four government representatives in red tape after the in the proposed institute’s sev- LDF came to power. The founen-member governing body . dation stone was laid in 2016, “The chief minister is very but little progress was made. much interested in the project Recently, the authorities and doesn’t want this file to be came up with a new set of closed yet. He has asked offi- ter ms including the lease cials to hold further meetings amount. After I-T raids, farmers’ protest supporters face NIA summons Caught in Chinese web, seafood exporters lose crores, seek govt’s help whatsapp E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e `1,200 crore due to the rejection and the non-payment of CHINA’S suspension of the dues,” he said. Sources said many exportimport of Indian seafood products has added to the ers in Kerala are on the brink woes of exporters who were of bankruptcy due to issues already hit by the Covid including Covid restrictions, blockade of consignments in pandemic. According to the Seafood Colombo Transhipment Port and the China standExporters Associaoff. Chinese market tion of India (SEAI), alone accounts for China has rejected around 25% of KeraIndian fish consignla’s seafood exports. ments alleging deThe export to Eutection of Covid rope too has been aftraces in them durfected due to the ing the past two stringent restricmonths. The move followed India’s ban Exporters in Gujarat tions triggered by alone have incurred a the second wave of on 267 Chinese moloss of D1,200 crore Covid 19. There has bile apps in the afdue to the rejection been a decline in extermath of the borand the nonports to the USA as der standoff, said payment of dues well. Though South SEAI Kerala chapAlex K Ninan, president, Asian countries are ter president Alex K SEAI Kerala chapter open, the companies Ninan. “It has been a are being forced to tough time for the seafood ex- reduce the price due to the port sector after the restric- slump in market, said Alex. Seafood products from Kertions on export due to Covid restrictions. The Chinese com- ala, par ticularly Indian panies have been rejecting our shrimp and ribbon fish, are in consignments for the past two high demand in China. However, the companies are not months. The allegations of Covid traces in consignments keen to import Indian prodare just excuses. We feel it is a ucts due to the deterioration reaction to the ban on Chinese in relationship between the apps. Exporters in Gujarat two countries, he said.  ● More on P5  alone have incurred a loss of @ Chandigarh/New Delhi After the raids by the income tax department on commission agents in Punjab who are supporters of farmers’ protest, the National Investigation Agency has served notices to 12 activists who have supported the agitation, including Baldev Singh Sirsa, the president of the Lok Bhalai Insaf Welfare Society . Sirsa, who has been part of the far mers’ team in the talks with the Centre, has been summoned by the agency for questioning on January 17, two days before the 10th round of talks. The NIA said Sirsa had been called as a witness in connection with a terror funding case registered against the Sikhs For Justice, a banned Khalistani outfit. “A notice has been sent under Section 160 CrPC, which is done for witness summons,” an official said. The others who have been summoned include Baltej Pannu, a radio and TV journalist working with American and Canadian media houses, activist c Jasveer Singh.  ontinued on: P7 M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi shot in the arm THE vaccination drive to combat Covid-19 began at 133 designated centres in the state on Saturday, marking the beginning of an effort to immunise more than three crore people. The drive kicked off around 11.15am after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation. The state administered the first dose of the vaccine to 8,062 health workers, nearly 40 per cent less than the set target of 13,300. No adverse reaction has been reported so far. The inaugural function and technical glitches in the Centre’s CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) application delayed the immunisation process, forcing administrators to leave out up to 5,238 of the 13,300 beneficiaries. Health Minister K K Shailaja’s office had later released a statement scaling down the target to 11,138, which was also not met. The drive will resume at 9am on Monday . In Thiruvananthapuram, Director of Medical Education Dr Ramla Beevi and Director of Health Serv- defers its updated data privacy policy till may 15 Facing backlash over forcing upon users its updated privacy policy, Facebookowned WhatsApp announced that it never had any plans to delete noncomplying accounts on February 8. The date extension is aimed at clearing ‘confusion’ | P10 13,300 5,238 8,062 857 initial target beneficiaries left out health workers vaccinated most no. of people vaccinated in Palakkad 155 ices Dr Sarita R L were the first persons to receive the vaccine at the Integrated Family Health Centre, Pangappara, and the Women and Children Hospital, Thycaud, respectively In other districts, the district . medical officers took the lead. As glitches in the CoWIN app caused delays, the health department switched to offline mode. “The software was supposed to choose a beneficiary randomly and alert them through SMS. Due to the glitch, we had to intimate them express read Order out, state govt withdraws BevQ app T’Puram: The state government has issued an order to discontinue the BevQ app introduced by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), the state-owned liquor retail monopoly. The app was launched with an aim to introduce a virtual queue management system in the state’s liquor outlets. Though a formal order was issued only on Saturday, a majority of the liquor outlets in the state have been working without tokens after the bars were re-opened in the state. P4 Shahnawaz Hussain gets Council call New Delhi: Ex-Union Minister Shahnawaz Hussain bagged a nomination from the BJP for the bypolls in Bihar legislative council. The terms for two seats vacated by BJP will end in 2022. He will be a nominee for remaining term. Mutant vs Vaccinator PLUS 12 PAGES least no. of people vaccinated in Malappuram manually from the list we had. So, many of them ended up missing the dose,” said an officer. Details of the beneficiaries were collected offline and uploaded later when the portal became live again. However, there is still confusion among administrators regarding the accommodation of those left out. “Each centre has been given doses as per the number of beneficiaries. So those who didn’t get the dose on the first day can take the jab on subsequent days,” the officer said. `100cr missing from KSRTC, CMD takes action, slams staff E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram A DAY after the finance minister allotted `1,800 crore in the state budget to help a stuttering KSRTC, its CMD Biju Prabhakar on Saturday came down heavily on a section of employees for the corporation’s current plight and transferred a senior officer over missing `100 cr from the corporation’s account during 2012-15. K M Sreekumar, executive director (pension and audit wing), was transferred to Ernakulam as zone administration officer. Prabhakar said the corporation would not survive unless it checked the malpractices. “The corporation has found widespread irregularities in its daily operation. A section of employees are making money using the KSRTC even when it struggles to stay afloat. Not all, but at least five per cent employees are engaged in various kinds of malpractices like diesel pilfering and tampering with ticket vending machines. There were also irregularities in the purchase of spare parts,” he said. The INTUC-affiliated Transport Democratic Federation (TDF) took out a protest march from the Thampanoor bus terminal to the Transport Bhavan in protest against Prabhakar’s remarks. TDF leaders said the comments were unwarranted and added those who “sold the headquarters were now accusing the employees”. Prabhakar has called a meeting with the unions’ representatives on Monday . “A section of highly paid employees are engaged in ginger and turmeric cultivation, giving scant regard to their duties and entrusting their work with contract staff. Another section takes tuition to students. In many depots, empanelled staff are running the show. KSRTC has 7,090 employees in excess. It has to be brought down. We’ll not fire anyone, but they will have to be redeployed,” he said.  ● More on P4 giant leap Bihar transpeople realise their khaki dream R a j e s h K u m a r T h a k u r @ Patna Bihar has paved the path for the transgenders to don khaki by sanctioning direct recruitment to the posts of constables and assistant sub-inspectors. Apart from the giant leap towards empowering the third gender, the state has also reserved one post out of every 500 in the constable-ASI ranks for the transgenders. Touching upon the concept of proportional representation, the notification said that out of the sanctioned police strength of 1,30,243, transgenders should be given 51 (41 ASI and 10 constable) posts based on their proportion to the total population. As per the 2011 census, the transgenders form 0.039 per cent (40,287) of Bihar’s population of 10.41 crore. ADG(HQ) Jitendra Kumar said that 51 transgenders would be recruited as per the recommendations of the Home department. According to the notification, Superintendent of Police would be empowered to recruit constables, while the Notable mentions Chhattisgarh was the first state to allow transgenders in the police force in 2018, though K Prithika Yashini from Tamil Nadu was the first to be inducted into any police force as an SI in 2017. The Centre last year approved the recruitment of transgenders in paramilitary DIG would select the ASIs as per norms. The direct recruitment would be only for transgenders from Bihar. Welcoming the decision as historic, Reshma Prasad, one of the members of the National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP), said the community was grateful to the Nitish government. “The community has also demanded a separate battalion of transgender police personnel, along with a two per cent quota, in the state police force,” she said.