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Uttarakhand to get first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday
Uttarakhand government has requested the Centre for extra vaccines for Mahakumbh fair.
By Suparna Roy
As Uttarakhand completed its third dry-run of the Covid-19 vaccination process on Tuesday, officials said that the state will receive its first consignment of vaccines by Wednesday evening. The state would be getting 1,13,000 doses of vaccine in the first phase.
Kuldeep Singh Martoliya, nodal officer of state's extended programme for immunization (nodal officer for Covid-19 vaccination) said that Uttarakhand government is expecting to receive vaccines from the Central government by Wednesday.
“On Tuesday, we were informed that the first consignment of vaccines will arrive in Uttarakhand by Wednesday evening but the number of vials of the vaccine has not been informed. We are waiting for further information from the Centre,” said Martoliya.
The state health department, through a statement released on Tuesday evening, informed that Uttarakhand will be getting 1,13,000 doses of vaccine from the Serum Institute of India.
Sonika, director for the National Health Mission in the state, who uses her first name, said, "In the third dry-run, 350 vaccination sessions were targeted compared to which 343 sessions were successfully conducted. A total of 6,650 health care workers participated in the third dry-run compared to the target of 7,964, which makes the vaccination rate 84 per cent. Offline vaccination process was followed at three sites and 243 mock cases were reported where candidates faced reactions after vaccination."
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Dr Saroj Naithani, director in-charge of National health programmes in the state said, "With the 1,13,000 doses that the state government will be receiving in the first phase, only 50 per cent of the health care workers will be vaccinated as two doses are to be given. For the remaining 50 per cent, the state government will get vaccines from the Centre later."
Speaking about challenges during the dry-run, Martoliya said, "Along with vaccination, we also conducted a dry-run of the webcast that will take place on the day of the launch of the vaccine with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the webcast, certain districts faced some technical issues, but apart from that, the dry-run was successful,” added Martoliya.
The state health department has already informed that a total of 87,588 health care workers will be vaccinated in the first phase of the Covid-19 vaccine drive in Uttarakhand starting January 16.
Dr Amita Upreti, director-general of health in the state said, “On the day of the launch of the vaccine, the process will first start at 41 sites across the state where the Prime Minister will be holding a two-way communication with the beneficiaries. This will be conducted at Government Doon Medical College Hospital and Susheela Tiwari Government Hospital.” The state has a total of 309 vaccination sites.
Speaking on preparations for Maha Kumbh fair, which is scheduled to start from next week in Haridwar district, Dr Upreti said, “We have requested the Central government to give us extra vaccines for Kumbh also, however, the number has not been confirmed to us yet. A special health department team will be deployed during Maha Kumbh fair and all health care workers in the district have been trained on how to handle the situation.”
Dr Naithani further added that in view of Mahakumbh, "all health care workers deployed at the fair will be vaccinated in the initial stages itself."
