Health ministry takes stock of vaccine preparation, assures jabs are safe

Over 3,000 sites across the country ready to vaccinate 300,000 health workers on first day. Some 100 beneficiaries will be given jab at each session site

A dedicated covid control room at the Nirman Bhawan premises of the health ministry, which has been analysing the spread of coronavirus in the country, will be monitoring the smooth roll-out of the covid vaccines through the Co-WIN digital platform. 

Health minister Harsh Vardhan visited the control room on Friday to take stock of the preparations for the nationwide launch of the vaccination drive on January 16. 

The Co-WIN platform is meant to enable real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries of the vaccine. The digital platform will be used to assist programme managers across the states by tracking beneficiary coverage, dropouts, sessions held and total vaccine utilisation. 

 

The data of beneficiaries will be sorted by gender, age and comorbidity. Vardhan while reviewing the beneficiary registration page suggested that the data for all non-prioritised groups should be uploaded on the software using the electoral database, in addition to other documents that are authorised for registration. 

Vardhan also said that “the indigenously manufactured vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin have proven safety and immunogenicity records and are the most important tools to contain the pandemic.”

Over 3,000 sites across the country are ready to vaccinate around 300,000 health workers on the first day of covid vaccination. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day. A 24x7 call centre, 1075, will address the queries related to Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software- the key platform for the vaccination drive. 

The health minister will visit some of the vaccination centres in the capital on Saturday including All India Institute of Medical Sciences.