Sanitation worker, driver to be first in Bihar to get Covid-19 vaccine

Amit Kumar, an ambulance driver at the IGIMS, would be the second to be vaccinated.

Ram Babu, a sanitation worker from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) would be the first among 4,64,160 healthcare workers in Bihar to take the first shot of vaccine against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on the inaugural day of the vaccination Saturday.

A medic fills a syringe with Covaxin, a government-backed experimental Covid-19 vaccine. (Reuters )

Introducing him to the media at a presser on the eve of the launch of the vaccination programme, Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey said Babu would receive the vaccine’s first dose in the state in front of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at the IGIMS. Amit Kumar, an ambulance driver at the IGIMS, would be the second to be vaccinated, he added.

The government has planned to vaccinate those above 50 years of age, having no co-morbidity, on the inaugural day of the vaccination.

A total 300 session sites (vaccination centres), of which 259 were public sector institutions and 41 private, had been selected for vaccination on the inaugural day, said Pandey. The government would gradually scale up the number of session sites, but vaccination would be restricted to 100 beneficiaries per team at a session site.

Pandey urged the media to help dispel any myth surrounding the two vaccines — Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

“Both the vaccines have passed all international safety standards of trial and they are absolutely safe. It's a matter of pride for India to have its own vaccine,” said Pandey.

He also urged beneficiaries not to become complacent after taking the first shot of the vaccine. A recipient who had taken the first shot will have to continue to maintain social distance, wear mask and continue handwashing habit. Antibody will develop after 14 days of taking the second shot of the vaccine. The gap between the two shots will be 28 days, added Pandey.

The minister, however, evaded a direct response to the query whether beneficiaries could choose between Covishield and Covaxin, saying those who get the first shot of a particular vaccine would get its second shot as well on the 28th day. He assured the state had sufficient vaccines for its healthcare workers, to begin with.

Earlier, Bihar’s principal secretary, health, Pratyaya Amrit, said those who do not enrol on the CoWin portal would not be vaccinated.

He said frontline workers, comprising police and armed forces personnel, home guards, prisons staff, volunteers of disaster management department, civil defence, organisational and municipal workers, including outsourced municipal staff, could register on the CoWin portal till January 25. Their vaccination would be taken up in the second round.

Prioritised population of 50 years and above or those younger than 50 years with co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, lung disease, etc., would have to self-register when the portal opens later, added Amrit.

Giving a lowdown of the vaccination programme, which the government had meticulously planned, Amrit said syringes and vials would be properly disposed through the common bio-waste treatment facility (CBWTF) after vaccination.

Fifteen districts were attached to the CBWTF facility at Muzaffarpur, 11 districts with the facility at Bhagalpur, six at Gaya and the remaining six districts with the facility at the IGIMS, Patna.

He said vaccination would be done four days a week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday — in the state, excluding holidays.

Amrit reiterated the need to follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour after vaccination.