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Sanitation workers to get first Covid shot in Telangana

At every one of the 139 vaccination centres in the state, it will be the safai karmacharis who will get the first dose of the vaccine

Hyderabad: It will not be a doctor or a nurse who will get the first Covid-19 jab in the state. It will be a sanitation worker at Gandhi Hospital, the Covid-19 care centre of excellence in the city, when the vaccination drive begins on the morning of January 16.

At every one of the 139 vaccination centres, designated as session centres, in the state, it will be the safai karmacharis who will get the first dose of the vaccine.

According to health department officials, on day one of the vaccination drive, each centre will inoculate 30 persons with their first dose. The number of people receiving the vaccine will increase with each day. It is expected that the second day will see 50 persons receiving their first vaccine dose, followed by 100 on day three and so on.

Currently, the plan is to hold the Covid-19 vaccination drive for four days a week with the other three days dedicated to the normal vaccination programmes.

Officials said that as on Wednesday, 3.3 lakh healthcare workers had registered their names to receive the vaccines. This sector of employees, both in government and private hospitals, will be the first to receive the vaccines, followed by staff in other frontline departments such as the police, and then those older than 50 years and those younger than 50 but with comorbidities. The turn of the normal public will only come after that, possibly sometime late this year.

With the safety of the vaccines — both Covishield from Serum Institute of India and Covaxin from Bharat Biotech — yet to be fully understood though both were approved by the Drugs Controller General of India as being safe, the state health department has set up separate Covid-19 Vaccine ICU beds to handle any odd adverse reaction.

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