India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on Thursday received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination. The 23-year-old shared a picture of him recieving the jab on Instagram stories and wrote: "vaccination done".
The swashbuckling-batsman is currently enjoying supreme form and will be an integral part of Team India in the upcoming World Test Championship finals against New Zealand and the five-match Test series against England.
India captain Virat Kohli, senior pacer Ishant Sharma, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, pacer Umesh Yadav and opener Shikhar Dhawan have already got their first dose of vaccination.
As per a report in PTI, Team India will leave for England on June 2.
Meanwhile, it has also been learnt that all the England-bound players are opting only the Covishield vaccine instead of Covaxin.
As per standard procedure the gap between the two COVID-19 vaccine requires a minimum gap of 28 days. So the Indian contingent that will leave for England will be in the UK during the time for the second dose.
Thus, BCCI has advised the players to get the Covishield vaccine instead of the Covaxin, as Covishield is based on Oxford-the AstraZeneca vaccine (a UK based product), which means that the Indian players can get the second jab without any hassle during their stay in England.
"It is advised that they take Covishield in India because it is based on the AstraZeneca vaccine, a UK product. They may get the second shot in the UK. Getting a different vaccine [Covaxin] here is of no use,” a BCCI source was quoted by The Times of India as saying.
