PM Narendra Modi to chat with beneficiaries during Covid vaccination drive in UP

The Uttar Pradesh health and family department is carrying out the second round of phase-1 of the Covid-19 vaccination drive on Friday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the beneficiaries and vaccinators in Varanasi at 1.15 pm.

UP health and family welfare minister Jai Pratap Singh said, the state government has planned to give jabs of the two vaccines- Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin-- to 1.50 lakh healthcare workers, including 8,500 healthcare workers in Lucknow, at 1,500 healthcare centers across the state including 85 in the state capital.

On the eve of the second round of the vaccination drive, Uttar Pradesh received 9.11 lakh additional vials of the Covishield vaccine. Before the launch of the first round of the vaccination drive on January 16, the state had received consignments of 1,055,500 Covishield and 20,000 Covaxin doses.

When asked if Uttar Pradesh had a preference for Covishield for vaccinating the healthcare workers, Singh replied that Uttar Pradesh government has not demanded a particular vaccine and it was the Central government’s mandate to supply vaccines to the states.

Singh hoped that the majority of the healthcare workers, whose names were put up on the Co-WIN portal, will turn up to get the vaccine shots. He added that the vaccine was safe and there should be no misconception about it among the beneficiaries. There was no report of any adverse event during the first round of vaccination, he claimed. UP recorded the highest turn out on the vaccination day with 22,643 healthcare workers getting the first jab, he said.

The integrated command and control centre (ICCC), set up in all the 75 districts in June last year for monitoring Covid cases, will now collect feedback from the beneficiaries of Covid vaccine on a daily basis, Singh said.

A health department officer said, in the first round of vaccination, the healthcare workers were given Covaxin doses at 11 centers in five districts of Ambedkar Nagar, Badaun, Firozabad, Bahraich and Jhansi, whereas, at 306 centers in the remaining districts, Covishield doses were administered to the beneficiaries.

The number of the centers for Covaxin shots has been increased in the round two. The health department has made it mandatory to get consent before administering Covaxin.

The minister added that health workers not suffering from any disease will be given both Covishield and Covaxin.

Principal secretary health and family welfare, Alok Kumar said, the health department has completed all the preparations for the second round of vaccination drive. The vaccine has been stored at 1,298 cold chain stores across the state. The state has planned to vaccinate a total of 9 lakh healthcare care workers and we have adequate vaccines to give the second dose to the beneficiaries after 28 days, said Kumar.

The state government has decided to hold the vaccination drive twice a week on Thursday and Friday, while the third and fourth vaccination round will be organized on January 28 and 29, he said.

In Lucknow, 35 vaccination centres and 85 vaccination session sites/booths have been made, where 8,500 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and paramedical, cleaning and other hospital staff will get the jab. In Lucknow, Covaxin will be administered to 600 medical staff at three hospitals.

“The vaccination session will begin at 9 am,” said Dr MK Singh, in charge of vaccination in Lucknow.