PATNA
Bihar is left with around 8 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine as it prepares to vaccinate the target group of 1.80 crore population of 45 years and above, beginning Thursday.
The state’s immediate concern remains availability of vaccines as well as sufficient number of data entry operators as it plans to ramp up its vaccination session sites from existing 1,700 to 2,500 in the next few days to meet the vaccination requirement of the 45 years and above age group.
“We need vaccines in sufficient quantity before we can increase the number of session sites,” said an official who did not wish to be named.
Given the shortage, the state is rotating vaccines from underperforming cold chain points to districts where vaccine utilisation was more, adding to logistics issues.
The health department has also written to district magistrates (DMs) to make available data entry operators, who are used as “verification officers” at the vaccination centres.
“We have sufficient vaccinators, but do not have as many data entry operators in our department. We have requested DMs to make them available through different departments so that we can increase the number of vaccination session sites,” said Manoj Kumar, executive director, State Health Society, Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}“We have sufficient vaccinators, but do not have as many data entry operators in our department. We have requested DMs to make them available through different departments so that we can increase the number of vaccination session sites,” said Manoj Kumar, executive director, State Health Society, Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}On the availability of vaccines, he said the state had enough to sustain at least another four days after it began vaccinating the 45 years and above age cohort of population.
“The Centre has committed to send additional 8 lakh doses of vaccine on April 2 to add to the tally of 33 lakh doses, which it has sent so far since the commencement of the vaccination drive on January 16,” said Kumar.
It will, however, take at least two days for the vaccines to reach around 700 cold chain points after their arrival at the state vaccine depot in Patna.
“The Centre has given us an assurance that it will not allow any shortage of vaccines in the state. It does not want the vaccines to remain idle,” he said.
The Centre does not want states to build up inventory. It wants the vaccines to be in continuous circulation and use.
“We want to vaccinate at least 2 lakh doses of vaccines every day after attaining a vaccination figure of 1.40 lakh doses in a day before the Holi festival,” added Kumar.
The state has decided to rope in around 4.5 lakh government school teachers and children to encourage eligible family members take the jab. It will also involve around 1 crore Jeevika (women self-help group) workers and urban local body members as motivators.
Additional chief secretary (education) Sanjay Kumar and principal secretary (health) Pratyaya Amrit addressed a joint video conference with district education officers in this regard on Wednesday.
The health department plans to use its existing health sub-centres as session sites. Of the 10,800 health sub-centres, there are only around 3,000 facilities housed in three-room accommodation, which is the minimum requirement for a vaccination session site.
After primary health centres, Bihar has rolled out vaccination centres to the level of health and wellness centres, with 1,700 of them being functional in the state. Around 100 of the existing 1,700 vaccination session sites in the state were private facilities.