Bengal govt starts training vaccinators ahead of Covid vaccine rollout

The West Bengal government has started a training programme for around 20,000 vaccinators to impart knowledge of handling COVID-19 vaccines ahead of its rollout, a senior health department official said on Wednesday.

After training, these vaccinators who have earlier been involved in administering polio and BCG vaccines, will be responsible for giving COVID-19 vaccine to people, he said.

The official said that the trained vaccinator will be assisted by four others to complete the process and such teams are being formed.

"All five members in a team will have specific roles. We have started giving them requisite training for end-to-end mobilisation and testing of the Covid-19 vaccination process," he said.

One team member will go through the identity of the candidate reaching a centre to receive the vaccine and then taking the person to the waiting room. Another will lead the candidate to the vaccination room after ensuring that all precautionary measures were followed.

The vaccinator will administer the vaccine to the person and the other two members of team will remain with the candidate after the shot is given, the official said.

The health department has also started a similar training programme for cold-chain handlers, who will be storing and preserving COVID-19 vaccines before they are delivered to vaccination centres.

Volunteers are also being trained in handling the Adverse Effect Following Immunisation (AEFI), he said.

Meanwhile, the health department has employed software professionals to prepare a list of frontline health workers who will be getting the first shots of the vaccine, he said.

"They will be monitoring the vaccination process for each of the candidates," the official said.

The Union Health Ministry has developed Co-WIN, a digital platform as well as a mobile application, for real- time monitoring of COVID-19 vaccine delivery.