Centre draws immunisation plan, max 200 people to get Covid-19 shots per ‘session’; it will be similar to election process; 30 crore people to be immunised in 1st phase
As India gears up for Covid-19 vaccination drive, the Government has prepared an extensive immunisation plan according to which only 100 people per “session” are likely to be vaccinated against the virus and the process will be similar to the election process.
The number of people per session may go up as high as 200 people if logistics allow on the days as fixed by the States and Union Territories, as per the ‘Covid-19 Vaccines Operational Guidelines’ which was released by the Union Health Ministry recently.
In the phase one of the vaccination drive, the Government plans to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people, including healthcare & frontline workers, people above 50 years of age and those under 50 with comorbidities.
“Anticipating that Covid-19 vaccine may soon be available, the Government is preparing for its introduction in the country so that it can be expeditiously rolled out when available. One of the milestones in this direction has been the constitution of a National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC). The NEGVAC guides on all aspects of Covid-19 vaccine introduction in India,” the Ministry wrote in the 112 pages document, calling the conduct of the vaccination process (will be) similar to the election process.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar while speaking at International Coronavirus Short Film Festival on Monday indicated that vaccine for the novel coronavirus will be soon available in India.
“Coronavirus vaccines would be available in India soon. I urge everyone to not let their guard down before anti-bodies are created and second dose of the vaccine administered: Union Minister @Prakash Javadekar while speaking at International Coronavirus Short Film Festival,” PIB tweeted.
Presently, popular vaccine candidates in line for Emergency Use Authorisation include Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, Astrazeneca and Oxford university developed and Serum Institute of India manufactured ‘Covishield’ and ‘Covaxin’ by Bharat Biotech Limited, raising hopes of vaccination at the earliest.
The document containing vaccination guidelines talks about aspects such as training vaccine workers and keeping logistics in place. The vaccines need cold storage units to keep them in usable condition.
“One session for 100 beneficiaries. While most of the healthcare and frontline workers would be vaccinated at fixed session sites, vaccination of other high-risk population may require outreach session sites, and mobile sites and teams,” the document states.
A vaccination team will comprise five members — the main officer with four aides. The officer can be a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or anyone legally qualified to give the injection. The second will security personnel to check user registration and guard the entry point at the vaccination session. The third officer will verify documents, while the fourth and fifth officers will be responsible for managing crowd and communication as directed by the Home Ministry.
The Government is also gearing up with 28,947 cold chain points with 85,643 pieces of equipment across the country to store the vaccines.
Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) system — a digitalised platform — will be used to track enlisted beneficiaries for the vaccination and anti-coronavirus vaccines on a real-time basis while twelve photo-identity documents, including Voter ID, Aadhaar card, driving license, passport and pension document will be required for self-registration on the Co-WIN website.
“At the vaccination site, only pre-registered beneficiaries will be vaccinated in accordance with the prioritisation, and there will be no provision for on the-spot registrations. The States have been asked to allocate the vaccine from one manufacturer to a district to avoid mixing of different vaccines in the field while all measures will be taken to avoid exposing the vaccine carrier, vaccine vials or ice packs to direct sunlight,” as per the document.
Tuesday, 15 December 2020 | PNS | New Delhi
