Odisha Corona Warriors, Elderly To Get Free Vaccines: Minister

Cuttack: Odisha is likely to launch the vaccination drive against coronavirus from January 2021 and COVID warriors as well as the elderly in the state will be given the vaccine free of cost, Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das said on Thursday.

“Doctors and health workers, who are our corona warriors, and elderly persons in Odisha will be administered the COVID-19 vaccine free of cost. In the second phase, we have urged the Centre to vaccinate municipality and drinking water and other public health workers in the state,” the ministers told reporters here.

Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said pregnant women and people above 60 years along with health workers will be accorded priority in distribution of COVID-19 vaccine.

Also, the Director of Family Planning, Bijaya Panigrahi, had informed about the blueprint prepared by the state government for the vaccination drive. The points mentioned are as under:

—3.2 lakh health workers and ICDS (Integrated Child Development Service) workers will be vaccinated in the first phase.

—For vaccination, 29,276 centres have been identified

—In each centre, 100-200 health workers and ICDS workers will be vaccinated.

—For vaccination, registration of each health worker will be mandatory. There will be no spot registration.

—For vaccination, 8276 vaccinators will be engaged.

—In each vaccination centre, one vaccinator, one vaccine officer, one verifier and two supervisors will be engaged.

—After vaccination, each health and ICDS worker will be provided with a certificate after they are kept under observation for at least 30 minutes.

—For safe storage of the vaccines, Odisha has one state-level vaccine store, 9 regional stores and 32 district-level stores.

—For uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution of vaccines, Odisha has 1222 cold chains.

—For the transportation of the vaccines, Odisha has 1796 Ice Lined Refrigerators (ILRs) and 1771 deep freezers.

—For smooth conduct of the vaccination, the state government has formed the task force at the state and district level.

Also Read: Odisha Govt Braces For COVID-19 Vaccination

Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccine: Pregnant Women, People Above 60 Years To Get Priority, Says Odisha CM