JAIPUR: Preparations were in full swing on Friday at 167 sites in 33 districts across the state to start the Covid-19 vaccination programme on Saturday.
Some 5,63,500
vaccine doses are ready to be given to beneficiaries, starting with healthcare workers.
Each centre in the state is expected to see around 100 beneficiaries. Jaipur, which though has arranged for 21 vaccination centres, will only see six operational on the first day today.
“We have completed all preparations and vaccines have reached maximum sites across the state,” health minister Raghu Sharma said. In Jaipur, the vaccination drive will be held in 21 centres.
However, the supply of vaccines is not adequate for the state, he said.
“We have 4.80 lakh health workers, including those working in central government-run hospitals, in the state. We are hoping the supply of the vaccine will increase,” he told TOI.
Rajasthan has so far received around 5.63 lakh vaccine doses from two companies.
While the state vaccine store in Jaipur received 4,43,000 doses of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India (SII) and 20,000 of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech, 1,00,500 doses have been taken to the vaccine store in Udaipur.
Vaccines for the districts of Udaipur division have been distributed from the store in Udaipur, and for other other divisions in the state from Jaipur. “By Friday evening, every centre in the state has received vaccines,” said a senior official.
According to health authorities, each beneficiary will be given a first dose of 0.5ml of the vaccine. “The second dose of 0.5ml from the same company will be administered after 28 days of the first dose. Also we have two interactive sites for the process, including one at SMS Hospital in Jaipur and JLN Medical College in Ajmer,” said Sidharath Mahajan, secretary, health.