CHANDIGARH: To counter the scepticism over safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines, the Punjab government has got a much-needed shot in the arm with many health workers approaching it with a request to vaccinate them on priority on the inaugural day of the drive.
Keenness exhibited by the health workers will help the government allay the apprehension of people regarding the vaccines. During the peak of the pandemic, Punjab had to struggle a lot due to misinformation and rumours spread regarding the Covid-19 treatment.
The much-awaited first phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive will get under way from Saturday during which 1.74 lakh health workers will be administered two doses of coronavirus vaccine 28 days apart.
A day before the launch of the drive, the state
health department received a request from about 200 health workers, including doctors, nurses, and paramedic staff for giving them the shot on the Day 1 of the drive.
As vaccination will be done only on 59 web-connected sites on the inaugural day, the health department could not accommodate all the requests. Each site has a maximum capacity of vaccinating 100 beneficiaries.
Punjab Covid nodal officer Dr Rajesh Bhaskar said vaccination would be done on limited sites on the opening day and they tried to accommodate maximum requests. The interested medical professionals who could not get slots on the opening day will get the shot on January 18.
“It is very heartening to see medical officers, civil surgeons and other categories of health workers coming with a request to vaccinate them on priority,” said Dr Bhaskar, adding that it would send the right message to the public. All the necessary arrangements required for the smooth roll out the
immunisation drive have been made.
The state received its first consignment made by Pune-based
Serum Institute of India (SII) On January 12. Taking possible wastage into account, each district has been provided 10% dose more than the actual number of beneficiaries.
Ludhiana district which has the highest number of beneficiaries has been given 36,510 doses of vaccine. As many as 20,880 doses have been provided to Amritsar, 16,490 to Jalandhar, 13,640 to Mohali, 12,430 to Bathinda, 11,080 to Patiala, 9,790 to Gurdaspur, 9,570 to Hoshiarpur, 8,210 to Tarn Taran and 7,660 to Sangrur.
Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the state government had left no stone unturned to make the immunisation drive a success. “After providing the first dose, all the site will necessarily plan for second dose after 28 days as per protocol,” said Sidhu.
In total, there are over 300 sites across the state and all the sites will be made operational in coming days. Over 4,000 vaccinators will be pressed into service during the drive.
The drive will be closely monitored by the health minister and the state steering committee, headed by chief secretary and comprising principal secretary for health and administrative secretaries of 15 departments.
Boxes
Next in line
After vaccinating 1.74 health workers in the first phase, the government will move on to frontline workers engaged in delivery of essential services such as police, officials of the revenue department and municipal workers. All people above 50 will be vaccinated in the third phase, followed by all people below 50 with comorbidity as on January 1, 2021. In all, Punjab aims to vaccinate about 70 lakh people which account for about 25% of the state’s total population.
Dos & Don’ts
• Only individuals of 18 years and above are to be vaccinated
• Other vaccines and Covid vaccines to be separated by an interval of 14 days
• Covid vaccines cannot be interchanged
• Special precaution to be taken while vaccinating persons with a history of bleeding
• The vaccine cannot be administered to individuals with a history of an allergic reaction to a previous dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, those who show an allergic reaction to vaccines or injectable therapies and food items, and pregnant and lactating women
DELAY IN INFORMING BENEFICIARIES
The Punjab government was unable to send messages in time to about 6,000 beneficiaries who are to be vaccinated on the inaugural day of the mega immunisation drive. Till 9pm, the health department was able to send messages to only a few registered beneficiaries, informing them about the location of the centre and the time of vaccination.