E-Paper
Chandigarh admn receives 12,000 doses of Covishield
Will be administered to the front-line health workers in first phase of the vaccination drive from January 16
The Chandigarh administration on Tuesday afternoon received the first batch of 12,000 Covishield doses, which are to be administered to the front-line health workers from January 16. The doses will be sufficient to inoculate around 5,500-6,000 people.
The consignment, which reached Chandigarh International Airport on an Indigo flight from Pune, was received by Dr VK Nagpal, joint director, UT health department. It was further transported and stored at Government Multi Specialty Hospital in Sector 16.
“The vaccines have been stored at a desirable temperature in the cold chain with round-the-clock security measures in place. The vaccination process will start on January 16,” said Arun Gupta, UT health secretary. “The beneficiaries will be selected through a computerised process. They will receive text messages on their registered phone numbers.”
Chandigarh has successfully conducted the dry runs and the online network system has also been tested, he said.
Dr Nagpal said healthcare workers are excited to receive the dose of vaccine. “Everyone at GMSH wants to get the first jab. It is kind of a festival here,” he said.
Nine health facilities have been earmarked as sites for the vaccination drive. The city is expected to receive a total of 21,000 doses in the first phase. A total of 8,830 healthcare workers, both government and private, have been registered for vaccination. The UT health department will also be giving the vaccine to front-line workers from police and municipal corporation, for which around 300 vaccinators have been trained.
