Co-WIN glitch hits Assam vaccination drive on Day 2

GUWAHATI: Over 2,000 healthcare workers in Assam were vaccinated on Monday, which was below the daily targeted figure of 6,500, after a major technical glitch in the Co-WIN server forced the state to stall vaccination in 24 session sites in 12 districts.
After the server snag, the department was left with a target of 4074 recipients in the functioning 41 session sites of total 65.
Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) was reported on one person after Covishield vaccination but the health department said it was a minor case and did not require hospitalization.
The vaccination coverage on the second day was just above 49% which is five per cent below the coverage on Day 1 on Saturday. Officials said the vaccination sessions could not be created in the CoWIN portal during Monday’s vaccination drive in as many as 12 districts of the state as a result of which no vaccination took place in Baksa, Biswanath, Cachar, Charaideo, Chirang, Dhemaji, Goalpara, Karimganj, Sonitpur, South Salmara Mankachar, Tinsukia and Udalguri districts.
Only with the creation of the sessions in the CoWIN portal, which usually starts from the evening of the previous day, the beneficiaries receive the confirmation messages in their phones, asking them to attend vaccination.
“Out of 4,074 targeted beneficiaries, 2,014 could be vaccinated on Monday,” director of health services (family welfare), Assam, Munindra Nath Ngatey, told TOI. Among the 2,014 recipients, Covishield was administered in 39 session sites, where 1,920 health workers got vaccinated on Monday. On the other hand, Covaxin was injected on 94 beneficiaries without any side effects.
Even as only about 49% of the targeted population could get inoculated on Monday, the health department felt that there is no hurry to get vaccination done. The vaccination percentage in Assam was 54% on Saturday.
While technical issues encountered in the CoWIN server was problematic, hesitancy on the part of health workers has also been a cause of concern. The National Health Mission (NHM) in Assam, however, said there is no competition to get maximum people vaccinated.
“In Assam, we have got over 5,000 people vaccinated in two days. We must remember that till three days, not even a single person was vaccinated,” said NHM, Assam director Lakshmanan S. He admitted that sending early intimation to the beneficiaries can help in increasing the turnout at vaccination sites.
The vaccination drive in Assam will take place four days a week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesdays have been reserved for other ongoing vaccination drives.
However, health sources said they are encountering problems in the CoWIN server on Monday evening also. The names of many listed beneficiaries could not be uploaded in the portal so that messages can be sent to them for Tuesday’s drive. “UNDP and NIC experts are putting in all efforts to upload the list of beneficiaries and it will continue till tomorrow morning. If they fail to upload all names by then, vaccination again may not take place in some session sites,” said a senior official of the health department.