IMA chief took vaccine to allay fears

Indian Medical Association (IMA) president, Dr J.A. Jayalal, who was among the first to take the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, had earlier told The Sunday Guardian that he wanted to do so to allay fears and apprehensions about vaccination. Jayalal said that over 1 crore health workers, including doctors, nurses and ward members, would be vaccinated in the first phase that began from 16 January.

Meanwhile, Delhi Medical Association (DMA) president Bharat Bhushan Wadhwa told The Sunday Guardian that under the COWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) app, a Unique Health (UH) identity number would be created for keeping data about the health status of an individual. COWIN app is a digital platform created for real-time monitoring of Covid-19 vaccine delivery and distribution.

Wadhwa told The Sunday Guardian, “In Delhi, over 3 lakh frontline workers will be vaccinated in the first phase. As many as 2,300 centres have been formed in Delhi, out of which 1,670 are in the government hospitals and remaining in private.”

Talking about the mechanism of vaccinating the beneficiaries, Jayalal said that it will be a four-member team. “One person at the reception, who will collect the form and check other details; there will be two nurses and a doctor; the nurses will be responsible of administering the vaccine and the patient will be monitored for 30 minutes.”

Wadhwa said that the team will ensure that the beneficiary is not developing anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction to venom, food or medication, after administering the vaccine. “If a beneficiary is developing anaphylaxis, then he/she will be admitted to hospital.”