India will be confronting its single biggest public health challenge as it prepares to launch the largest-ever mass immunization drive, aiming to inoculate around 300 million people by August 2021.
The safe delivery of vaccines to the people is a massive challenge.
Let’s take a look at how states and UTs are preparing to administer Covid-19 vaccine doses:
- Gujarat- The Gujarat government has already prepared a list of priority citizens. They have already put together the cold chain infrastructure for the storage and transport of vaccines. The government has identified four groups to get vaccines first- corona warriors apart from health care workers, Healthcare workers, people above 50, people below 50 with co-morbidities.
It has also readied teams of vaccinators. There will be 27,796 vaccination centers and 15,534 teams for vaccinating.
- Kerala- Covid-19 vaccine will be made available free of cost to all people in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. The official said that the state already has an excellent cold chain facility and has also started ramping up its cold chain infrastructure for storage and distribution of the vaccine.
As part of the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), the state already has an excellent cold chain facility from vaccine depots down to primary health centers.
- Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh made a similar announcement of providing the Covid-19 vaccine free of cost to all people.
Sources said Tamil Nadu identified over 40,000 centers where vaccination will be given to the people identified by the district administration and other agencies.
As far as MP is concerned with cold chain storage facilities for the vaccine and training of healthcare workers underway. Vaccination will be started as soon as we get the vaccine.
- Maharashtra– Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said that if the Centre gives its nod by the end of this month to carry out COVID-19 vaccination at mass level, then around three crore people could be given the vaccine in the state in the first round.
- Haryana- Haryana government is making all preparations in terms of building a database of priority groups, cold chain infrastructure; identification and training of vaccinators for rolling out vaccination while those on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus such as doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc are on the priority list for vaccinations.
- Punjab- For the mega exercise, Punjab has one state-level vaccine store, 729 cold chain points, 22 district vaccine stores, and 127 block-level vaccine stories. In addition, the state has 1165 Ice Lined Refrigerators and 1079 Deep Freezers.
- Andhra Pradesh- Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has recently announced that AP is getting ready to vaccinate one crore people in three months. The Andhra Pradesh government has issued orders setting up an urban task force to conduct the covid vaccine distribution exercise in urban areas. Vaccines will be stored at 4,065 cold chain facilities in the state while 29 refrigerated vehicles will transport vaccines. Asha workers will be trained to inject vaccines into people.
- Uttar Pradesh- Uttar Pradesh government is working on an expansive distribution strategy. With 35,000 vaccination centers, vaccinators will record the data of people who are administered doses on an online platform. A staff of L3 Covid-19 hospitals will be the first among frontline workers to get the shots followed by those in L2 and L1 Covid hospitals.
- Jammu and Kashmir- In a bid to rationalize Covid-19 vaccine flow and distribution across Jammu and Kashmir, twenty Vaccine Logistics and Cold Chain Managers (VCCMs) have been appointed in each district of the Union Territory while two project officers and one senior project officer are in place post-induction.
- Telangana- Telangana government has constituted four committees for the coronavirus vaccination- it has constituted committees at the state, district, and Mandal levels for planning and execution, with priority to high-risk groups, followed by others. It has also constituted four committees for planning, execution, supervision, and monitoring of the COVID-19 vaccination program in the state.
- Delhi: Delhi is geared up for the COVID-19 vaccination program and has started the enrolment of healthcare workers for Covid-19 vaccination. Delhi’s Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital has become the first vaccine storage facility. Delhi has 600 cold storage points and around 1,800 outreach sites for the universal immunization program for children.
Meanwhile, Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Thursday reviewed with top officials of state governments the arrangements for the roll-out of vaccines when these are available and asked them to prepare a database of frontline workers like police personnel who will be administered on priority.
