The vaccination of pregnant women against COVID-19 began in Odisha today with on-the-spot registration by Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers.

Special arrangements like separate vaccination rooms and waiting rooms were made. After vaccination, women were observed for at least 30 minutes. Director of family welfare and vaccination Dr Bijay Panigrahi said, "In Odisha, the total no of pregnancies registered per year is around 9 lakh. So at any point in time, we expect 50 per cent of total registered pregnant women, that is, around 4.5 lakh to be due for COVID-19 vaccination."

"We have given direction to district authorities that front-line workers will give counselling to these women regarding the benefits of the COVID vaccine," he added.