Major exercise for COVID-19 vaccination
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 8: Ahead of the launch of vaccination for COVID-19 across the country, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has directed administration of all Government Medical Colleges (GMCs), Directorate of Health Services, District Magistrates and other field agencies to be ready with numbers, locations and other details as it has identified three priority categories for initial doses of vaccination whenever it is made available.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Health workers including doctors, para-medical staff and ASHA workers have been listed in Category No. 1 who will be vaccinated first. For the purpose, the Principals of all Government Medical Colleges, Directorates of Health Services, Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) and administration of other Institutes have been asked by the Union Territory administration to prepare lists and total number of the health workers who will require vaccination for Coronavirus.
“The process has already been initiated by all concerned in the Health and Medical Education Department and will be completed within the next few days,’’ they said, adding the authorities were on the job to list total numbers of the health workers in Jammu and Kashmir. The data will be compiled in the next few days to get exact numbers of healthcare workers in the Union Territory.
Police, armed forces personnel and Municipal workers have been listed in the second category after health workers in the frontline workers category. They will be administered vaccine after the healthcare workers as they too are vulnerable due to regular duties and direct inter-action with the public.
In the third category, persons above the age of 50 years and co-morbid will get vaccinated and the administration including the District Magistrates and Health authorities have been asked to identify such persons and prepare their data.
Health experts are of the view that vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers apart from co-morbid people and those aged above 50 could help in breaking chain of the virus to a large extent.
It may be mentioned here that a number of senior doctors, para-medics and other healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir since the pandemic broke out in February this year and number of them including some young doctors have died either because of pathogen or post-COVID related complications. Large number of police and para-military personnel, a number of them IPS and JKPS officers, have also tested positive for the virus.
Moreover, almost 80 percent of the people who died of COVID-19 were co-morbid.
“Vaccinating co-morbid people is among the priority of the Jammu and Kashmir Government,’’ sources said.
As per the initial procedure, adopted by the Central Government, an SMS will be sent to the recipients mentioning time, date and venue to get the vaccine shots. Each person in the immunization list would be linked with their Aadhaar cards to avoid duplication and to track beneficiaries. However, in case a person does not have an Aadhaar card, a Government photo identity proof can be used, sources said.
Anganwadi centres, schools, Panchayat buildings and other such setups will be used in addition to healthcare facilities as vaccination sites, according to the sources. The Government would identify buildings which can be used as vaccination booths under the special COVID-19 immunization programme.
The Central Government, according to sources, is planning to procure COVID-19 vaccines directly from the drug makers and distribute them among priority group. The States and Union Territories have been asked not to chart separate pathways of procurement, according to reports.
According to sources, the National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 has already mapped the existing cold chain presently being utilized under the Government’s immunization programme informing about the preparation of a cold chain for the storage of vaccines.
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