KINS Desk
Srinagar, Jan 01 (KINS): The Central government has ordered 83 crore syringes for COVID-19 vaccination drive and Universal Immunization Programme in the India, the health ministry informed.
The Union Health Ministry said the centre has also invited bids for 35 crore more syringes. Government has prioritized 30 crore people for COVID vaccine which includes health workers, frontline workers and sanitation staff.
“Earlier, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19 has recommended three prioritised population groups including Healthcare Workers of about one crore, Frontline Workers about 2 crore and Prioritized Age Group about 27 crore. As vaccines are temperature sensitive and need to be stored in specific temperature, the present cold chain system consisting of 85 thousand 634 equipment for storage of vaccines at about 28 thousand 947 cold chain points across the country will be used for the cold chain administration,” it said.
It is to mention here that the Central Government has asked all States and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine roll out and the dry runs are scheduled to begin on 2nd January 2021.
The Health Ministry has issued orders for the vaccine dry runs to be conducted by all the State and UT governments on 2nd January 2021.
The activity is proposed to be conducted in all State Capitals in at least 3 session sites. Some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support.
The Central Government has asked all States and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine roll out.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has alread chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for COVID-19 vaccination.
The planning for the vaccine introduction will be as per the Operational Guidelines issued by the Ministry on 20th December 2020.
For each of the three Session Sites, the concerned Medical Officer In-charge will identify 25 test beneficiaries or the healthcare workers.
The States/UTs have been asked to ensure that the data of these beneficiaries is uploaded in Co-WIN.
Around 96,000 vaccinators have been trained for this purpose.
2,360 participants have been trained in National Training of Trainers and over 57,000 participants trained in District level training in 719 districts.
The first round of the dry run was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab on 28 and 29th of this month in two districts each where five session sites with 25 beneficiaries each were identified.
No major issues were observed in the operational aspects during this dry run. (KINS)
Health Ministry says, ‘Authorities gears up for roll out of COVID19 vaccine across the country’
