Vaccine roll-out: Norms being fine-tuned, states ready

As India is set to launch its Covid-19 vaccination drive from January 16, the Centre on Sunday said Co-WIN, an online platform for monitoring vaccine delivery, shall form the foundation for the inoculation drive.

The platform will be citizen-centric so that the vaccine is available anytime and anywhere.

As part of preparations for the nationwide roll-out, the health ministry on Sunday held a video conference with officials from states and UTs to discuss feedback on Co-WIN and its operational use gathered from the vaccination dry runs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a video conference with state chief ministers on Monday to discuss the preparedness for the vaccine rollout.

Meanwhile, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday said the city government has finalised 89 sites to roll out the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the national capital from January 16. Jain said 36 government hospitals and 53 private hospitals will have a vaccination site each. “The first batch of vaccines will arrive by Tuesday or Wednesday. In the first phase, health care workers will be vaccinated. Thereafter, frontline workers and those aged above 50 will be given the doses,” Jain told reporters.

Nearly 11 lakh people engaged in Covid-19 duties, including healthcare and frontline personnel, will be vaccinated for coronavirus on priority in Gujarat, chief minister Vijay Rupani said on Sunday, adding that 16,000 personnel have been trained for administering the shots.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said his government will attempt to cover each and every person in the state. “The vaccination drive will start from January 16 and we aim to cover each and every person under it. It will also be ensured that all guidelines of the Union government are followed during vaccination,” Adityanath said while inaugurating a “Mukhyamantri Arogya Mela” at Sankisa in Farrukhabad.

Ram Sewak Sharma, the chairman of Empowered Group on Technology and Data Management to combat Covid-19, stressed on the need for flexibility without compromising on quality and reiterated that inclusivity, speed and scalability have been kept in mind while designing the digital platform with all its components being portable, synchronous without excessive and unnecessary dependencies. About the use of the Aadhaar platform, Sharma advised the states to urge the beneficiaries to seed their current mobile number with Aadhaar for registration and consequent communication through SMS.

It is extremely important to clearly identify a person who is getting vaccinated and keep a digital record on who gets vaccinated by whom, when and which one, Sharma stressed. Underscoring the importance of capturing the vaccination data in real time, Sharma said, “This is non-negotiable.”

–With inputs from PTI