The Oxford university- AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield which is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in the country would be administered to the health workers and frontline Covid-19 workers in the first phase of vaccination in Uttarakhand.

Director of National Health Mission (NHM) Dr Saroj Naithani said that the Government of India has directed the SII to send 113000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Uttarakhand. She informed that in the first phase the health workers deployed at all district hospitals, medical colleges, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh, Military Hospitals (MH) and major Community Health Centres (CHC) will be vaccinated. It is pertinent to mention here that two doses of vaccines are needed to be administered for Covid-19 vaccination. Dr Naithani said that since the state has received 113000 doses, 50 percent of this number would be vaccinated and the vaccine would again be procured for vaccination of remaining health workers.  The second dose of the vaccine is administered after 28 days of the first vaccine dose. In view of the Kumbh, 100 percent health workers of Haridwar district would be vaccinated in the initial phase only.

For vaccination the authorities have earmarked 4943 government and private health units and a total of 9708 vaccination sessions would be organised in them. A total of 317 cold chain points have been made where the vaccine would be stored. An arrangement for 483 ice island refrigerators, 547 deep fridges, three walk in coolers and two walk in freezers has been made. In the first phase, the vaccine would be administered to health care workers and front line workers, in the second phase people of more than 50 years of age and those with co-morbidity would be given the vaccine while in the third phase the remaining population would be covered.