Coimbatore: The vaccination drive against Covid-19 will begin in the district on Saturday around 11.30am.
After the Prime Minister’s speech scheduled for 10.30am, the drive will be inaugurated by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami through video conferencing.
The number of centres where the vaccine will be administered has been further reduced from five to four, and beneficiaries from 500 to 400. Hundred doses were dispatched to each of the four centres by Friday evening. Officials though, struggled with glitches in the CoWIN app.
The four centres are Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, Pollachi GH, Mettupalayam GH and Nalattipalayam PHC. “While the GHs will see only government employees get vaccinated, some private health workers will get vaccinated in Nalattipalayam PHC,” said deputy director of public health Dr G Ramesh Kumar.
To avoid any controversy on the first day, the health department ensured that each of the 400 beneficiaries had given their consent for vaccination. “In fact, ensuring only people who consented got on tomorrow’s list was what delayed our entry of data in the app,” said Kumar.
Health department officials were also struggling to select the people for Saturday, because the app was not opening on Friday evening.
In the four selected centres, officials ensured that booths were disinfected. Waiting areas and observation rooms were set up earlier in the week.
The district recorded 67 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 53,475. With 51 people getting discharged, the number of active cases stood at 625. The district recorded no deaths.