133 COVID-19 centres, control rooms: How Kerala is gearing up for vaccination drive

Kerala will set up 133 centres across all the 14 districts for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine during the upcoming vaccination drive, with the most number of centres being set up in Ernakulam district, a total of 12. The state has launched an action plan for the distribution of the vaccine, the state’s Health Minister KK Shailaja said on Sunday.

According to the action plan, 100 people will be vaccinated at one centre. As many as 3,58,574 people have registered for the vaccination in the state. Of this, 1,68,685 belong to the government sector and 1,89,889 are from the private sector.

Eleven centres each will be set up in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode districts. Nine centres each will set up in rest of the 11 districts. More centres will be set up in the days to come, KK Shailaja said. The minister has said that the vaccination drive will cover doctors, nurses and other staff of the health sector.

Each centre will have a waiting area and vaccination and observation rooms. The centres will function as per COVID-19 protocol.

The Union government on Saturday announced that the vaccination drive will begin on January 16.

Priority will be given to around one crore healthcare staff and two crore frontline workers. This includes doctors, community health workers and the police. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the vaccine will be free of cost for the frontline workers.

District collectors to oversee vaccination

District Collectors will be entrusted with the task of the heading the vaccination drive in the state while control rooms will be set up at districts for coordination.

Training has been given to health workers at the district and block level, a statement from KK Shailaja said. A task force meeting will be held in all districts to assess the functioning of the centres and reports will be submitted to the Health Department based on the meeting.

The dry run for the vaccination in the state was held in 52 centres. In a high-level meeting on Sunday, the minister lauded health care workers for making the dry run a success. She also urged officials to help make the vaccination a success, and that there are no lapses.