'Go Corona Go' fame Ramdas Athawale and wife get first doses of Covid-19 vaccine

Famous for the 'Go Corona, Corona Go' slogan at the advent of the novel coronavirus pandemic last year, Union minister Ramdas Athawale and his wife Seema took their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Friday.

The Minister and his wife took the Covid jab during the government's ongoing phase of mega covid-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years of age and those who are 45 years old with co-morbidities, which started on 1 March, 2021.

Several union and state ministers of the country including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind have already taken the first jab of the vaccine and have unanimously urged other citizens who are eligible for the vaccination programme to go and get themselves inoculated as well.

Athawale had in February last year coined the slogan 'Go Corona Go' along with a Chinese diplomat and Buddhist monks at a prayer meeting in Mumbai.

During that time, the union minister had said a COVID-19 vaccine will be available in the country in one or two months.

Once the vaccine comes, "corona will go from here (the country)", he told reporters in Panaji.

"The coronavirus will be there for another six-seven month, but it has to go one day. Once the vaccine comes, corona will go from here," Athawale had said.

In October, 60-year-old Athawale had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Republican Party of India (A) leader was admitted to a private hospital in south Mumbai.

Meanwhile, a total 4,80,740 vaccine doses were given on day-55 of the vaccination drive (March 11, 2021). A total of 4,02,138 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 9,751 sessions for 1st dose and 78,602 HCWs and FLWs received the 2nd dose of vaccine.

Amid the vaccination doses being administered in the country, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a surge in daily COVID-19 cases, accounting for 85.6 per cent of the new cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

India's total COVID-19 active caseload has reached 1,97,237 and now comprises 1.74 per cent of India's total infections.