Guntur, Apr 1 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his wife Y.S. Bharathi took the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday in Guntur town and initiated the statewide vaccination programme.

Setting an example for the need to get vaccinated, the Reddys underwent inoculation at the 140th ward secretariat in Guntur's Bharatpet.

Following the vaccination, Reddy was put under medical observation for a while. He later interacted with the doctors and the ward secretariat staff.

The chief minister urged all the eligible people above the age of 45 years to get vaccinated and said that the statewide vaccination programme will end in 90 days.

Reddy reiterated that it is inevitable for people to coexist with coronavirus and pointed out that vaccination is the only way to ward off infection.

"Government has mooted this massive vaccination programme like nowhere else in the country by taking it through village and ward secretariats, standing up as a role model for other states," he said.

Reddy said that the village and ward volunteer system, a grassroots governance distribution system, will conduct a door to door survey along with Asha workers to ensure that every eligible person in every household gets vaccinated.

"Volunteers would be collecting the details, enroll and give a vaccination date, an ambulance will be made available along with the doctors and other medical staff at the secretariat, which will be taken as a unit and vaccination would be carried out like a 'yagana' (ritual)," the CM noted.

The Reddys vaccination event was attended by Ministers All Kali Krishna Srinivas, Mekathoti Sucharita and Sriranganadha Raju, along with MLAs Ambati Rambabu, Alla Ramakrishna Reddy and others.