New Delhi:
The coronavirus public service announcement voiced by superstar Amitabh Bachchan ringing out just before telephone calls connect is getting replaced with a new a single beginning Thursday, two days just before the 1st doses of the COVID-19 vaccines are offered out.
The caller tune, listing the security measures for the pandemic, had faced increasing resentment as the pandemic dragged on with several complaining about getting forced to listen to it just about every time a telephone contact is created.
The new caller tune has a female voice and will be utilised for awareness about the COVID-19 vaccination drive.
“The new year has brought a new ray of hope in the form of vaccines. Vaccines developed in India are safe, effective and will provide immunity,” it says.
The message appeals to the public to have faith in Indian vaccines and not think in rumours. It also urges men and women to continue with COVID-19 precautions even even though vaccinations have begun making use of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new slogan “Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi (Medicine and caution both”.
It comes amid issues about the government-backed vaccine Covaxin which has not however completed Phase 3 trials and however is getting rolled out along with the Oxford University-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, developed by Serum Institute of India.
In an instance of the impatience with the campaign featuring Mr Bachchan, a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court earlier this month asked for it to be dropped, according to news agency PTI.
The petition, filed by a Delhi resident, mentioned the government engaged and retained Mr Bachchan to spread awareness about the preventive measures to fight the COVID-19 even even though the superstar himself as properly as other members of his household had been infected.
The petition requested the court to direct the government to have the announcement replaced by popular coronavirus warriors who had been prepared to give their services for no cost.
Before Mr Bachchan, the coronavirus caller tune introduced final year had featured a voiceover artist Jasleen Bhalla.
Before that, in March, the government had created telecom operators carry an even more contentious caller tune that started with the sound of a cough, alarming several callers. It was replaced quickly right after.