Lucknow: Even as medical institutes across the country are gearing up for the third phase trial of the country’s first indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, the Uttar Pradesh government is preparing for a vaccination drive in the state.
Lucknow: Even as medical institutes across the country are gearing up for the third phase trial of the country’s first indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, the Uttar Pradesh government is preparing for a vaccination drive in the state.
In the first phase, frontline health workers like doctors and paramedical staffs will be vaccinated. The state government has directed all the district magistrates and chief medical officers to enlist public and private health workers on priority for vaccination. District health department officers have been told to make arrangement of cold chain in all the districts for storing the vaccine by December 15. Additional chief secretary Amit Mohan Prasad said that the state health and family welfare department has directed the district administration and health officers to complete all the preparation for the vaccination before it is launched.
Meanwhile, in UP too, the third phase trial of Covaxin will be conducted at SGPGI, Lucknow, and BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur. Keeping in view the large area and population, the department has decided to complete all the preparations by the year-end, he said.
The state Health and Family Welfare Department has decided to launch a 16-day focused sample test drive, beginning Thursday, October 29, across the state to check the spread of the infection. The focus of the drive will be on the people who come in contact with large number of people daily. On October 29, the focus will be on autorichsaw drivers and rickshaw pullers; on October 30: mehndi and beauty parlours; October 31: sweet shops; November 1: restaurants; November 2: religious places; November 3: security staff in malls; November 4: staff in electronic shops and vehicles showrooms; November 5: retail shopkeepers; November 6: firecrackers shops, fruits and vegetables markets; November 7: religious places; November 8: sweet shops; November 9: retail shops; November 10: fruit and vegetable markets; November 11: security staff in malls and, November 12: electronic shops and vehicle showrooms.
Prasad said district administration officers have also been directed to trace at least 25 contacts of a positive case for the sample test.
