With approval of two Covid vaccines by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), the vaccination programme would commence shortly in Odisha, informed Medical Education and Training (DMET) Director Dr CBK Mohanty on Monday. “As soon as the vaccines reach Odisha, we will start its rollout and administration to millions here on short notice,” he told reporters.
The two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, have been approved in India for emergency use. While the Covishield developed by the Serum Institute of India in collaboration with the Oxford-AstraZeneca is said to be 70% to 90% effective to protect a person from coronavirus, an interim report says the Covaxin that is under a third-phase trial will be 90% to 95% effective.The Centre would start administering the Covishield to the people shortlisted for the vaccine, Dr Mohanty said, adding, “As many as five crore vaccines are currently available with the Serum Institute of India.
However, Odisha is not entitled to get those directly. It will be procured by the Centre. We will begin vaccination as soon as the vaccines reach the State because we have already completed a dry run programme.” The Centre is planning to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people in the first phase of the drive in the next six to eight months. The vaccine would be first offered to one crore healthcare workers along with two crore frontline and essential workers and 27 crore elderly, mostly above the age of 50 years with co-morbidities.
In Odisha, a total of 3.2 lakh health workers have been selected for getting the vaccine in the first phase. The Government has asked the district administrations and Municipal Corporations to complete the selection of session sites for vaccination of healthcare workers by January 8.The session sites would be identified in PHCs and above.