Some vaccines may get licensed in the next few weeks: Health secretary

Depending upon availability all three priority groups selected for vaccination could get vaccinated simultaneously

One or more vaccines that will undergo review for emergency use authorisation (EUA) may get licensed in the next few weeks, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Tuesday. Depending upon the availability, all three priority groups selected for vaccination could get vaccinated simultaneously, he added.

He also said that states will start receiving additional supply of cold chain equipment, including walk-in coolers, deep freezers and reefer trucks, starting December 10.

Current cold chain infrastructure is capable of storing additional quantities of Covid-19 vaccine required for the first 30 million people, which includes the total number of healthcare and frontline workers identified for vaccination, the health secretary said.

The vaccination drive, the largest of its kind, could go on for a year or more, Bhushan said. The three priority groups making up almost 300 million people, recommended by the national expert group on vaccine administration, include healthcare workers, frontline workers and those above either 50 years of age or with comorbidities. “These groups are not sequential... every single Indian who needs to be vaccinated will be vaccinated,” Bhushan added.

More than half of the present number of auxiliary nurses and midwives will be deployed by the government for Covid vaccinations, the health ministry said.

Of the total 239,000 vaccinators — auxiliary nurses and midwives who provide vaccination under the universal immunisation programme — 154,000 will be used for Covid vaccination. The rest will continue to ensure that the routine health services and immunisation programmes do not get interrupted. In all, 13 types of vaccines are administered in the country to millions every year, including those given to children and pregnant women.

The government has also identified additional requirements for cold chain storage in different states and started procuring additional equipment. The cold chain system currently consists of 85,634 equipment such as walk-in coolers, deep freezers, reefer trucks among others for storage of vaccines at about 28,947 cold chain points across India.

The health ministry also plans to draw from the experience of elections and universal immunisation programme while implementing the Covid vaccination drive.

The health ministry also shared the details of the Co-WIN, the digital platform for vaccine delivery, which includes a mobile app where a person can register to receive the shot. It also includes an electronic vaccination certificate in the form of a quick response code that would acknowledge vaccination. The digital platform will also keep a tab on the overall coverage, drop-outs, temperature loggers (for cold chain), sessions planned versus held. “It is a voluntary exercise so there may be people who do not come for vaccination,” Bhushan said.

The government is also putting in motion a multiple level coordination mechanism between the Centre, led by the national vaccine administration committee, the steering committees at state level and task forces at district and block level. A control room set up at the state level will work 24X7 once the vaccination exercise starts.