VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the Covid-19 vaccination programme at the government hospital around 11.30 am here on Saturday.
A female sanitation worker, B. Pushpa Kumari, was the first get the dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Five persons were given the vaccine in the presence of the Chief Minister.
Krishna district immunisation officer Dr S. Sermista administered the first dose of vaccine to the sanitation worker followed by female nursing orderly Ch. Nagajothi, operation theatre assistant P. Jaya Kumar, Dr L. Praneetha and Dr B. Basaveswar. She also administered the vaccine to the Vice-Chancellor of Dr NTR University of Health Sciences, Dr P. Syama Prasad, and director of medical education Dr K. Venkatesh.
The Chief Minister enquired about the programme from health principal secretary Anil Kumar Singhal and health and family welfare commissioner K. Bhaskar. He also checked the cold chain and the vaccine veil preserved in it.
Dr Sermista said, “I have taken the initiative with the advice from Krishna Collector Md. Imtiaz, to administer the first dose to avoid any issue with regard to administration of the vaccine after finding the ANM entrusted with the task, feeling nervous to administer the vaccine. In order to avoid bringing disrepute to the vaccine itself, I have administered the vaccine to seven people.”
Each veil of vaccine will have five ml quantity and each beneficiary will be given 0.5 ml with auto disable syringe which means it collects only 0.5 ml dose of the vaccine implying that each veil would be used for 10 beneficiaries.
State health authorities maintain that they carried the programme out at 332 session sites at the rate of 100 beneficiaries each on the first day. From Sunday onwards, the vaccine will be administered at 42,450 session sites.
The State government is administering the Covishield vaccine as it received 4.77 lakh doses and though 20,000 doses of Covaxin have also been received, the government wanted to start the programme with Covishield until it receives further doses of Covaxin. The beneficiary has to be given the vaccine of the same company 28 days apart.
Health authorities say that on the first day of vaccination programme, 16,963 persons were given the vaccine at all 332 session sites in the state by 5.50 pm against the targeted 32,739 beneficiaries.
Health director Dr T. Geetha Prasadini said, “So far we have not received any single adverse case following immunisation. From Sunday onwards, there will be more session sites in order to administer the vaccine to more registered beneficiaries.”
The government has targeted to administer a vaccine to 3.87 lakh healthcare workers who registered in Co-WIN app by January 12 in phase-I and registration for the second phase of vaccine for frontline workers from departments like police, municipal administration, panchayat raj and others will be open up to January 25.
