Phase 2 of Covid-19 vaccination drive: 793 frontline staff inoculated on Day 1

After a delay, Maharashtra started phase 2 of the vaccination drive to inoculate over 600,000 frontline workers along with vaccination of around 786,000 healthcare workers which is already in progress

After a delay, Maharashtra started phase 2 of the vaccination drive to inoculate over 600,000 frontline workers along with vaccination of around 786,000 healthcare workers which is already in progress. On Wednesday, the state health department inoculated 35,096 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 793 frontline workers, including police personnel, sanitation and revenue department staff.

In the second phase, Asha workers were vaccinated at Thane Civil Hospital on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo)

The second phase got off to a slow start due to technical glitches in CoWIN, the Centre’s mobile phone application that is used for enrolment of the people to be inoculated. On Wednesday, the state recorded a turnout of 62%, which is a drop from Monday’s turnout of 77%.

A total of 354,633 people have been inoculated in a total of 11 sessions held till date. Of them, 344,942 HCWs have been immunised across the state, according to a release issued by the state health department. The vaccination drive was started on January 16 and is now being held four days a week.

Despite a rise in the number of health camps to 555, the state government on the first day of phase 2 could inoculate only 793 frontline workers owing to technical glitches in the CoWIN app.

In many districts, the app failed to send out automated messages to beneficiaries to arrive at vaccination centres, as a result of which the phase-2 drive was conducted in only seven to eight districts on Wednesday. It may take a day or two to resolve the issues, officials said.

“We are facing technical glitches in informing the beneficiaries to reach the vaccination centres. The app could not send the automated message to them; as a result, we could not roll out phase 2 in all the districts of the state. This is the reason the number of beneficiaries among frontline workers is very less,” said a senior health official, requesting anonymity.

The technical glitches in the CoWIN app had already delayed the rollout of the second phase, scheduled on February 1. The authorities were facing difficulties in sending out messages to the beneficiaries and also in transfer of data from the state to districts. On Monday, the state had conducted a mock drill as part of its preparations for phase 2 of the drive.

Data of the beneficiaries is populated onto CoWIN and the session allocation, details of vaccination to the beneficiary, information about the next dose will be captured and communicated digitally by the app.

“We have planned to continue vaccination of both HCWs and frontline workers simultaneously. While doing so, those HCWs who have completed a gap of 28 days will also be called for the second shot of the vaccine. This will help us in completing the drive in less time,” said another official.

The state has also continued giving shots of Covaxin to beneficiaries at six centres and vaccinated 408 people on Wednesday.

In the two districts of Mumbai, 57,585 beneficiaries have been vaccinated so far, the health department said.

According to data released by the health department, Akola and Bhandara districts reported over 100% turnout. Akola reported 107% turnout, with 320 beneficiaries were vaccinated.