Dhanbad began its Covid-19 vaccination drive in its urban areas on Friday with the senior-most nurse of the Sadar Hospital taking the first jab at its main building.

Archana Chattaraj (57) said neither she nor her family members were nervous about the vaccination, as she took the jab in the presence of a host of senior officials of the district administration and District Health Department, including Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner Uma Shankar Singh and Civil Surgeon Dr. Gopal Das.

“There was no reaction or any uneasy feeling after taking the vaccine. After remaining in the observation room for half an hour I came back to my home and did everything as per my normal routine,” Chattaraj said.

“My son-in-law, Ashay Nirgude who had also undergone vaccination in Washington two days back convinced me to take it too,” she added.

Chattaraj, a nurse at the Matri Shishu Kalyan Kendra of Sadar Hospital, further said that she will convince her colleagues to take the vaccine.

Medical Officer of Sadar Hospital Dhanbad, PP Pandey became the first doctor and second person who was administered the vaccine at Sadar Hospital. He was followed by another Medical Officer Dr. Masoom Alam and Civil Surgeon Dr Gopal Das.

Two centers of Dhanbad -- Sadar Hospital and Sahid Nirmal Mahto Memorial Medical College and Hospital -- have been selected for vaccination drive in the urban areas by the health department. The process began at Sadar Hospital on Friday, while at SNMMCH it will begin from Monday.

The dry run for vaccination was conducted at SNMMCH during the second half of the day, while the training for two teams of vaccinators was done from 11 am to 1 pm at PG block of the hospital.

“The vaccination drive was carried out at two rural centres at community health centres in Tundi and Topchanchi since January 16,” Uma Shankar Singh said.

“The urban vaccination will prove to be useful as these areas have larger concentrations of health workers,” said Singh.

“Only seven or eight beneficiaries had minor reactions,” he added.