GB Nagar district administration identifies 13 cold chain points, 73 centres for Covid-19 vaccination

Noida: With districts asked to prepare a plan to rollout the Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration has begun the process of preparing a list of its health care workers who are likely to get the shot first.

While no vaccine has yet been given the green signal to be administered for the general public, the central and state governments are putting into place infrastructure and protocols --such as who gets the shots, storage and transport facilities -- in place to administer them. District magistrate (DM) Suhas LY said they had 13 cold storage points where vaccines can be stored, besides the main vaccine depot at office of chief medical officer (CMO). The administration has identified 73 centres where the vaccination will take place. “We have started maintenance work for cold storage space. We are checking ice-lined refrigerators (which can lower temperatures down to 2 to 8 degrees Celsius) working conditions in primary health centres and logistics required to transport vaccines,” he said.

“The process of creating a database has already started. Apart from doctors and paramedics in different government hospitals, we are also reaching out to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and private hospitals to prepare a list of their staff. These health workers will be the first in line to receive the immunization against coronavirus,” he said. GB Nagar district CMO Dr Deepak Ohri, said, “We have already prepared a list of 21,543 doctors and other medical staff, who will be inoculated. It will be followed by vaccination of employees of the authorities, armed forces and police personnel in the second place. In the third and last phase, people above the age of 50 years will get the shot.”

On the storage aspect, he said, “ILRs are used to store vaccines for polio, measles, rubella and other diseases at primary health centres across the district. However, Covid-19 vaccines may require even lower temperatures. We are trying to find a way for that.”