Expecting the introduction of a vaccine for COVID-19 in near future, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine is planning to work on a micro plan on several levels to ensure a vaccination programme.
Chennai:
The directorate has instructed all the deputy directors of health services to work on the micro plans and submit them by October 15 in a specific format.
The plan is to be prepared on three levels — Health Service Centers, Primary Health Centers and district-level facilities — by deputy directors of health services in the State Health Department. Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Dr TS Selvavinayagam said that the micro plan is for when vaccination is approved by the government of India. He added that the plan shall be useful for any approved vaccine against COVID and is not specifically for any particular vaccine.
As per senior officials from the State Health Department, the vaccination programme will be designed keeping up with different parameters of population, age, gender and requirements. The State Health Department is working on the plan in a specific format as directed and discussed with the senior authorities from the government of India.
The plan will include details on available human resources, including senior-level healthcare officials, field workers, volunteers and other staff from local bodies. As per the plan, the comorbidities across all the age groups will be taken into consideration as the data is recorded age-wise for all individuals.
The vaccine trials for two vaccines — Covaxin and Covidshield — are being conducted in the State under the supervision of SRM Medical College and Research Centre and Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine respectively.
Trial under way for 2 vaccines
The trials of Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech are underway at SRM Medical College and Research Centre. The phase two of Covaxin BBV152 trial is underway. Covaxin is developed in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology. Its phase one was successfully conducted and so far, no major side effects been noticed on the volunteers. SRM Medical College and Research Centre is the only institute participating in the Covaxin trials from Tamil Nadu. The trials for Covidshield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University is being led by Serum Institute of India in the country. The trials in Tamil Nadu are being conducted by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, with principal investigator Dr T S Selvavinayagam heading it in the city. The phase 2 and phase 3 trials of the vaccine are to begin soon.
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