VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said one crore population in the State, including 3.6 lakh health workers, seven lakh frontline staff and 90 lakh people above 50 years of age will be administered Covid-19 vaccine in the first phase. The official machinery has been geared up to administer the vaccine to people as per the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Concluding the short discussion on ‘Aarogyasri - Containing Corona - Government Measures’ on the final day of the winter session of the Assembly on Friday, Jagan explained the State’s plan to take up administration of Covid vaccine, once it is approved by the Central government.
“The Centre has indicated that the Covid vaccine will be out in the coming three to four months. The State will get one crore vaccine doses. The Centre has issued certain guidelines to administer the vaccine and we are taking all steps in this regard,” the Chief Minister said.
The 3.6 lakh health workers who will be administered the vaccine initially, include doctors, nurses, ANMs, medical students, sanitation staff in both government and private hospitals. Similarly, the frontline staff include all personnel involved in the fight against coronavirus.
Three to four pharmaceutical companies are working on the vaccine and it has to be approved by the Centre for administration. It needs to be stored at temperature ranging between 2 and 8 degree Celsius, he said.
The State has made available 4,065 cold chain equipment (freezers). The Centre will supply the cold boxes to store the vaccine and also syringes to administer it, he said.On human resource front, the Chief Minister said since the vaccination has to be done by professionals, ANMs will be trained for additional support and services of 60 per cent of the total 19,000 ANMs in the State will be utilised for the purpose. For transporting the vaccine, the State needs 29 refrigerated vehicles and they have already been procured. Task Force committees have been formed right from the mandal level for smooth administering of the vaccine, he said.
Taking an indirect jibe at Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan said unlike people who boast themselves of working for 18 hours a day even without sleep, his government is making all necessary arrangements without much hullah-bullah. “I believe that a Chief Minister should monitor the functioning and get results. A Chief Minister should review the functioning and get feedback,’’ he said, adding that the officials are doing a good job.
On Covid containment measures, he said the government had effectively controlled the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, but still precautions must be taken for some more time as the vaccine is expected to come in the next three months.
The State can take pride in performing more than one crore tests. There is a likelihood of a spike in Covid cases in the State as the winter sets in. Adequate precautionary measures should be taken for at least three months to combat Covid, he said.
“As warned by the Centre, several experts and even the Supreme Court, there is a possibility of a second wave and more particularly the virus may spread fast during winter. The United Kingdom, France and Italy are under lockdown, while in our country, states like Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh are witnessing spike in cases. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have also imposed night curfew to curb the spread of Covid,” he pointed out.
On total count, the Chief Minister said 8.7 lakh people have been affected with Covid since March. The State has conducted 1.02 crore tests covering almost 20 per cent of the population, standing first in the country. The average positivity rate, which stood at a high of 16% at one point of time, has come down to 8.51% now. The mortality rate is only 0.81%.
“The government has implemented an effective system to curb the spread of virus by developing testing facilities, setting up Covid care centres and a structured network right from 104 toll-free number to telemedicine. The number of virology labs rose to 150. The State has also ramped up Covid hospitals and set up 243 hospitals, including taking over 120 private hospitals to treat patients. The ‘Trace, Test and Treat’ strategy adopted by the State has proved effective in curbing the spread of Covid,” he said.
On Aarogyasri scheme, Jagan said the government had revamped it by including a total of 2,436 treatment procedures. It has been made available in 130 hospitals even in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.
“The government has not only cleared the pending bills to the network hospitals during TDP reign, but also brought a green channel system, where the bills will be cleared in less than three weeks,’’ he said.
He stated that all the Aarogyasri hospitals are being graded based on the facilities and infrastructure to ensure quality medicare is provided to patients. All the empanelled hospitals will soon be equipped with a help desk where an Aarogya Mitra will be appointed, he said.
The government has been giving up to `5,000 per month under Aarogya Aasara to support the patients during their recovery period, besides providing pension ranging from `3,000 to `10,000 per month to those suffering from chronic ailments. Besides these, the government is revamping all the existing hospitals right from the primary health centres to teaching hospitals under the Nadu Nedu scheme.
Moreover, 16 new medical colleges are being set up in the State with an outlay of `16,000 crore, he added.
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