Based on dry-run feedback, Ministry ready to introduce it within 10 days from date of emergency use approval
The Covid-19 vaccines cleared by the top drug controller (DCGI) on January 3 is likely to be rolled out within 10 days from the date of emergency use authorisation, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday even as it added that the final decision lies with the Government.
“Based on the feedback of dry-run, the Ministry is ready to introduce Covid-19 vaccine within 10 days from date of emergency use authorisation,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a Press conference here.
The country’s drugs regulator on January 3 granted restricted emergency use approval to Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield and also to indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech. Prior to it, the Government had successfully held dry-run pan India with an aim to test the laid-out mechanism for the mega vaccination drive and to assess operational feasibility of using Co-WIN application in field environment for planning, implementation and reporting at the block, district and State levels.
Bhushan said healthcare workers and frontline workers need not register themselves as their database has been populated in the Co-WIN vaccine delivery management system in a bulk manner. The Ministry also put forward the CoWIN Delivery Management plan.
“There are 4 primary vaccine stores called GMSD located in Karnal, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and there are 37 vaccine stores in the country. They store vaccines in bulk and distributes further,” Bhushan said, adding that the vaccine will further be taken from these stores and taken to sub-centres “via passive equipment like rice boxes.”
Bhushan said the Co-WIN app can be used by any country who wants to do so, as the system is made for India and the world.
While healthcare and frontline workers will not be required to register themselves, Bhushan said when they would come to the population priority group, the need for registration would come.
“Then the system electronically allows session allocation…the beneficiary has been vaccinated this will also be digitally captured and he will be given this information digitally when he has to come for the next dose. They will also get an acknowledgement, a unique health ID would also be generated,” he said.
Bhushan said Co-WIN will have a provision that one can create a unique health ID and “you can keep the acknowledgement in a digi locker which is free or on your phone”.
“In case of an adverse event, to ensure its real time reporting there is a provision in Co-WIN vaccine delivery management system,” he said.
Bhushan further said that Co-WIN has the facility of automated session allocation, Aadhaar authentication to prevent malpractice, creation of Unique Health ID for willing beneficiaries, reporting and tracking of adverse events following immunisation, if any, SMSes in 12 languages to guide beneficiaries and vaccinators, QR code-based vaccination certificate issued after all doses, DigiLocker integrated for data retrieval and storing QRcode-based certificate, 24×7 Helpline including IT professionals.
The Health Secretary also refuted reports that the Union government has banned the export of any one of the Covid-19 vaccines.
“When I say Union Government, it means there are three Ministries — Ministry of Health, Ministry of Commerce, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade with the Ministry of Commerce and Directorate General of Foreign Trade — which can initiate, in a hypothetical scenario, such an action.”
“But none of them has taken any such action. Therefore, our request to our media friends would be that we should be on guard when such misinformation is sought to be spread,” Bhushan said.
Wednesday, 06 January 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
