5,900 health workers to get vaccine shot in Punjab today
State govt plans to inoculate 1.6 lakh government and private health workers in first phase of the campaign
AMRITSAR : Nearly 5,900 health workers will be inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine at 59 locations in Punjab on the first day of the launch of the nationwide vaccination drive on Saturday.
The state government plans to vaccinate 1.60 lakh government and private healthcare workers in the first phase of drive.
Those included in the first phase of the campaign are 13 categories of healthcare workers, including MBBS doctors, Ayush practitioners, nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMS), dentists, paramedical staff, scientists and research staff, dietary staff, sanitation workers, ambulance drivers, security staff, outsourcing agency staff and other support staff like clerical and administrative staff in hospitals who are part of the frontline workforce against the coronavirus.
Punjab got its first consignment of 2.04 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine on January 12.
“Nearly1.6 lakh Punjab health workers registered with the central government’s Co-win app will get vaccinated. Fifty nine vaccine sites across the state will be operational on Saturday and each site will cover 100 beneficiaries. We have already directed the district health teams and district administrations to categorise 100 registered beneficiaries for each session site. The schedule has already been sent to each health worker to avoid chaos and confusion at the vaccine sites,” said state Covid-19 nodal officer Dr Rajesh Bhaskar.
“The vaccine drive will start at 10.30 am after the virtual inauguration by the PM. The vaccination sessions will be livestreamed from district hospitals in Mohali and Government Medical College, Amritsar. Besides, virtual conference will be telecast live at each of the 59 vaccine sites. After inoculating the vaccine doses, each beneficiary will be kept in observation for halfan-hour,” said Dr Bhaskar, adding that each beneficiary will get two doses in 28 days apart.
The vials have been transported to every district from the state-level vaccine store with the last van leaving Chandigarh on Friday.
Dr Bhaskar said there was no set deadline for completion of the first phase of the drive but the health department aims to vaccinate all 1.6 lakh health workers in a week.
Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh said, “Vaccine has been kept in regional cold storage room. The health teams and vaccinators have been given full training. The vaccination officer will check the beneficiary’s health status and will verify them on the CO-WIN app before inoculating. Also, special security will be deployed at each vaccine site to manage the crowd.”