Pune civic body to start 24x7 Covid vaccination at five civic hospitals

Only health care workers and frontline workers would be vaccinated at these centres and it would not be opened for phase two beneficiaries

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has issued an order on Wednesday to start round-the-clock Covid-19 vaccination at five civic hospitals from March 24. The civic body aims to increase vaccination as the city has been witnessing a drastic rise in the number of fresh Covid cases. The order states that when the night curfew is imposed only health care workers and frontline workers would be vaccinated at these centres and it would not be opened for phase two beneficiaries.

A health worker gets his picture clicked, as he gets vaccinated at Rajiv Gandhi hospital in Pune. (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

The order mentions that the five 24x7 vaccination centres would be Kamala Nehru hospital in Mangalwar peth, Rajiv Gandhi hospital in Yerawada, Jayabhai Nanasaheb Sutar hospital in Kothrud, Murlidhar Pandurang Laigude at Wadgaon Dhayari and Annasaheb Magar Maternity home in Hadapsar. The order also states that these centres must put out a board which clearly mentions that vaccination would not be in place during the night curfew hours.

The medical officer concerned must appoint a medical superintendent and medical officer at these centres.

The state’s vaccination capacity also went up as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) donated an air-conditioned vaccine van to the state government’s health department.

The van with a capacity of 32 cubic meters can carry 30 lakh doses of vaccines at a time. This is the first such initiative in the state. The van will supply vaccines especially in Marathwada and Vidarbha.

Dr Dilip Patil, state vaccination officer and deputy director of public health department said, “Any vaccine be it the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines or other vaccines under universal immunisation programmes like polio, rubella and others need to be maintained at +2-+8 degrees Celsius so that the efficacy remains intact. It is important to maintain the cold chain between vaccine suppliers and beneficiaries. Since the vaccine will be available to all people from April 1, a large number of vaccines will have to be transported. In this case, the vaccine van will be useful. Our furthest vaccination centre is at Nagpur which is about 1,000 kilometers. This truck can store the vaccine safely for days.”