NCP wants PM Modi to take first jab of Covid 19 vaccine

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the first to be inoculated in order to allay the concerns of the people who are apprehensive about the forthcoming Covid 19 vaccination drive.

As the country set to begin the nationwide drive on January 16, Maharashtra minister and NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik made the comments in a video message on Monday.

"The programme has been announced to vaccinate frontline warriors, healthcare workers and police first. But people have some doubts in their minds about it," Mr Malik said.

"Somewhere there is a need to create confidence among the people. Hence, the prime minister should begin the drive vaccinating himself first. This will help allay fears in the minds of people," he said.

Earlier in the day, the PM interacted with chief ministers of all States via video-conferencing and discussed the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination roll-out in the country.

Public representatives (a reference to politicians) are not part of the three-crore coronavirus warriors and frontline workers to be vaccinated first, Mr Modi said during the meeting.