To ensure smooth implementation of the dry run of corona vaccine on December 28 and 29, Punjab Government is all set to commence the first-of-its-kind vaccination program in Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar (Nawanshahr), and Ludhiana.
“The vaccine is planned to be rolled out on phased manner with priority groups — healthcare workers, frontline workers, elderly and population with co-morbidities,” said the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Sunday, adding that the details of 1.5 lakh healthcare workers from private and public facilities have already been uploaded on the CoWIN portal.
All beneficiaries are to be compulsory pre-registered on CoWIN portal and Photo ID will be required for same.
Sidhu said that as per instructions of the Union Ministry Health and Family Welfare, Nawanshahr has identified five session sites including District Hospital, SBS Nagar; Community Health Centre (CHC), Mukandpur; Primary Health Centre (PHC), Jadla as urban outreach, while Sub Center, Usmanpur, hes been identified as rural outreach and Ivy Hospital as private facility.
Similarly, seven sites have been identified in Ludhiana — Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital as District Hospital; Dayanand Medical College and Hospital as private facility.
Three urban outreach including Jagraon Sub-Divisional Hospital (SDH), Raikot SDH and Khanna SDH, besides rural outreach sites including CHC Dhamot and Machiwara CHC.
Along with State vaccine store, three regional vaccine stores have also been created in Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and Ferozepur where supply of vaccine will be ensured across the State, he said adding that the state have also done cold chain assessment and identified 729 cold chain points.
State level and district level meetings are being conducted timely to oversee preparatory activities, he said.
Sidhu said that dry run has been planned by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) in Punjab including other three states — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, and Gujarat.
SBS Nagar and Ludhiana are two districts selected for dry run on December 28 and 29, 2020.
Divulging about vaccine, Sidhu said that three indigenous vaccine manufacturers have entered phase III trials — Covishield from Serum Institute of India, Covaxin from Bharat Biotech International Limited and ZyCov-D from Cadila Healthcare Limited.
“The vaccine which will be available, the dose, the dosing schedule is yet to announced by MOHFW and the above vaccine will be stored at 2 degree to 8 degree C,” he said.
Notably, District Task force meeting conducted in both districts to identify the vaccinator team, one vaccinator officer with four vaccination officer and one supervisor for all the sites.
