2nd round today: UP aims to give jabs to 1.5 lakh health workers
LUCKNOW : The Uttar Pradesh health and family department is all set for the launch of the second round of the Covid vaccination across the state on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the beneficiaries and vaccinators in Varanasi at 1.15pm.
Health and family welfare minister Jai Pratap Singh said the state government planned to give jabs of the two vaccines — Serum Institute of India’s
Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — to 1.50 lakh (150,000) health workers at 1,500 health centres across the state, including 85 in Lucknow where 8,500 health workers will be vaccinated.
On the eve of the second round, Uttar Pradesh received 9.11 lakh (911,000) additional vials of the Covid vaccine on Thursday. All the doses of the fresh vaccines are Covishield. Before the launch of the first round on January 16, Uttar Pradesh had received consignments of 10,55,500 Covishield and 20,000 Covaxin doses.
When asked if the Uttar Pradesh government was preferring Covishield for vaccination of the health workers, Singh replied that the state government had not demanded a particular vaccine.
“It’s central government’s mandate to supply vaccines to the states,” Singh said.
Singh said the health department hoped that a majority of the health workers, whose names had been updated on the Co-WIN portal, would turn up to get the vaccine shots.
“The vaccine is safe and there
should be no misconception among the beneficiaries. There was no report of any adverse event during the first-round vaccination. UP recorded the highest turnout on the (first) vaccination day when 22,643 health workers got the first jab,” he said.
The integrated command and control centres (ICCC) set up in all the 75 districts to monitor Covid cases in June last year would collect feedback from the beneficiaries, who receive the vaccine shots.
The health staff stationed at ICCCs would call the beneficiaries daily to know their well-being, he said.
A health department officer said, “In the first-round vaccination, health workers were given Covaxin doses at 11 centres in five districts — Ambedkar Nagar, Badaun, Firozabad, Bahraich and Jhansi. Covishield doses were administered at 306 centres in the remaining districts.”
While the number of centres at which Covaxin shots will be given has been increased in round two, the health department has made it mandatory to fill a consent form for Covaxin, the officer said.
The statewide details of how many beneficiaries will receive which type of vaccine were not available when reports were last received.
“Those health workers who are not suffering from any disease will be given either of the two vaccines — Covishield or Covaxin,” he said.
Principal secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Alok Kumar said the health department had completed all the preparations for the second round.
“The vaccines have been stored at 1,298 cold chain stores across the state. The state plans to vaccinate nine lakh healthcare workers (in the first phase). We have adequate vaccines for the second dose to be given after 28 days.
The state government has decided to organise vaccination programme twice a week on Thursdays and Fridays. The third and fourth vaccination rounds will be organised in UP on January 28 and 29,” he said.