A road map for rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine in the district is rapidly taking shape with committees set up by the District Collector to execute the plan working on a war footing.
The District Immunisation Officer, DM&HO and the District COVID Special Officer met on Thursday to chalk out the plan and it will be presented to Collector V. Vinay Chand on Friday.
It is learnt that in the first phase, the vaccine will be administered to 60,000 health workers who have been identified and listed.
“If things go according to plan and the State government acquires the first batch of vaccines, then by Sankranti festival, we might be in a position to begin the process of vaccinating the frontline health workers,” said District COVID Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College Dr. P.V. Sudhakar.
As per the vaccination plan, the second phase will focus on other frontline workers such as officers and staff from GVMC, Police and Revenue Departments and civic workers.
It is learnt that a list has been prepared and 2 lakh people have been identified.
In the third phase, the vaccine will be administered to eight lakh people in the district who are in the 50-plus age group and have co-morbidities.
Officials have already prepared a list and eight lakh persons have been identified.
It is expected that by March-April, the second and third phase of vaccines will be administered.
The district has a population of 47 lakh, and after the first three phases, the remaining 37 lakh will be vaccinated in phases, according to sources.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jeevan Rani, District Immunisation Officer, said that work is apace at the 40 cubic metre refrigeration facility and will be completed soon. The district already has a 16.5 cubic metre facility and both together can hold over one lakh vaccines at any given time, she said.
Second wave
Though cases have been sharply falling in the district since November, officials are not ruling out the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic.
From the first week of July to September-end, the district recorded close to 50,000 COVID-19 cases, and from October to till date, the number of cases recorded were only around 8,000.
“This month, we have been averaging around 10 to 20 cases per day, which is a significant drop. Even the death rate has come down. As of now, we have 250 active cases, with around 100 in hospitals and the rest in home isolation. Of the 100 in hospitals, around 70 are in KGH’s CSR block,” said Dr. Sudhakar.
According to him, a second wave cannot be ruled out. However, he was fast to add that the second wave is completely dependent on public behaviour towards COVID-19.
“If people follow the basic norms of wearing a mask, staying away from public places and regularly sanitising their hands, we can keep the second wave at bay. But unfortunately, we observe that 75% of people in public places have stopped wearing masks, while around 15% wear it around their neck. Only 10% of people are wearing it correctly,” he said.