Of the 1.8 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine that arrived in Ernakulam on Wednesday, 73,000 doses will be for health workers in the district while the rest is being transported to four other districts.
Around 63,000 people, including hospital staff, ASHA and anganwadi workers, have registered for the vaccine on the CoWIN app. With the first consignment, around 32,000 people can be vaccinated in two doses, with some buffer. The second dose is to be administered 28 days after the first.
District Collector S. Suhas and Dr. M.G. Sivadas, Reproductive and Child Health Officer for the district, collected the boxes that arrived from the airport at the Regional Vaccine Store at the Ernakulam General Hospital.
Storage facility
The vaccine will be distributed from the regional store to the 12 vaccination centres in the district on Thursday, Dr. Sivadas said. The storage facilities used for regular immunisation will be used at these centres for the Covishield vaccine as well, he added. The vaccine is to be stored at a temperature of 2 to 8 degree Celsius.
Another consignment of the vaccine is expected to arrive in the district in a week or two, he said. Ernakulam has the highest number of people registered for the vaccine in a single district in the State. The first dose of the vaccine is likely to be administered to 1,200 people on January 16. Each of the 12 centres, previously identified, is equipped to vaccinate 100 people on a single day. Health workers have already been trained in the district to administer the vaccine.
Mr. Suhas told the media here that the number of centres for vaccination will be increased in a few days, based on need and available facilities.
The doses meant for Thrissur, Palakkad, Kottayam and Idukki will be transported via road from the General Hospital with police escort.