A massive COVID-19 vaccination exercise is expected to begin across India in the coming weeks with Covishield and Covaxin – developed by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech – getting a restricted emergency use authorisation.
This is expected to be one of the largest immunisation exercises undertaken anywhere in the world. Two rounds of dry runs have been conducted in the country to assess the preparedness of mechanism and fill gaps in procedures, if any.
The Centre has already shared operational guidelines with states and Union Territories detailing every single aspect of the vaccination exercise. The government is hoping to vaccinate 25-30 crore people by July.
Vaccination sequence
Healthcare workers: These include doctors, nurses, medical officers, paramedical staff and support staff.
Frontline workers: Personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force, coast guard, certain teams under the command of the Union Home Minister such as Assam Rifles, BSF, CISF, CRPF, ITBP, NSG, SSB, home guards, prison staff and those involved in disaster management.
Municipal workers, including sanitation workers, cremation staff and ground staff, and state police personnel would be next in line.
Prioritised age groups: All Indians who are above the age of 50. Additionally, this phase would include individuals who are under 50 but have co-morbidities. The age will be calculated based on January 1, 2021 as the cut-off date, according to a report by News18. The rest of the general will follow.
Vaccination setup
A vaccination team will comprise five members:
> Vaccination officer: Doctors, staff nurse, pharmacist, auxiliary nurse midwife, lady health assistant; anyone legally authorised to administer injection may be considered as potential vaccinator or vaccination officer.
> A person to verify details: Police, home guard, civil defence, NCC, NSS or NYK will check registration status of the beneficiary at the entry point and ensure guarded entry to the vaccination session.
> Second vaccinator will authenticate/verify the identification documents.
> Third and fourth vaccination officers will be two support staff members who will be responsible for crowd management, communication and provide other support.
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Vaccination process
The process will happen in three key steps:
> Authentication/verification of beneficiaries using the Co-WIN application
> Vaccination
> Observation of beneficiaries for 30 minutes for adverse event following immunization (AEFI)
Union Health Ministry’s full operation guidelines for the vaccination process can be found here
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