List of UT health workers getting Covid shots first to be finalised by weekend

The list of population groups getting the Covid-19 vaccine on priority will be finalised by the UT administration by the end of this week with health workers in the public and private health sectors targeted first.

The Central government has set a deadline of December 10 for the UT to formulate and upload the list of health sector staffers on a specified site.

According to UT adviser Manoj Parida, data of staff working in government and private health sectors such as doctors and paramedical staff, among others, will be submitted to the health ministry for prioritising population groups for the Covid-19 vaccination programme. “The public sector list has been prepared and submitted. For the private sector, health staff including outsourced health workers, will also be finalised and submitted before December 10,” he added.

Frontline health workers are first among priority groups to receive the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine whenever it’s available.

The master list of heath workers in the city will be used for supervision and management of the vaccination programme, with the health ministry’s digital platform eVIN being readied for vaccine distribution and delivery.

The health workers in the list will be informed about the vaccination schedule through the platform by which SMSs will be sent informing them about the time, date and venue to get the shots, digitally connect them and also track them.

Parida and other senior UT officials, on Monday, attended a video conference chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba on the Covid-19 status and vaccine programme.

The chief secretaries of all states and union territories also attended the conference.

Task force formation

A district task force and block task force will be set up by the UT adviser for the vaccine programme according to Central government directions . The deputy commissioner and the MC commissioner will be responsible for the functioning of these committees.

The adviser has already constituted the state level steering committee, with the first high level meeting on the programme held on November 27. This was where the administration decided to train and recruit medical interns and final-year MBBS students for execution of the programme.

Suggestions were taken from doctors at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research and officials of the UT health department, municipal corporation and police department. “A suggestion was put forward that final-year MBBS students as well as interns be trained for the vaccination exercise whenever it takes place,” Parida said.

Meanwhile, a lockdown was ruled out at the meeting, with the cabinet secretary saying it was time to resume all activities across the country, the UT adviser added.

The cabinet secretary had also instructed the administration to meticulously ensure the implementation of new standard operating procedures at the ground level.

While doubling fines for not wearing face masks from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 on November 26, the administration had decided against imposition of night curfew in the city and against rolling back relaxations.