VIJAYAWADA: With an objective to administer Covid vaccine to the population in tribal and remote areas, mobile immunisation service Tika Express was launched in Andhra Pradesh on Monday. The service was launched in Srikakulam, Krishna and East Godavari by respective district collectors, and the same will be launched in other districts on Tuesday or Wednesday. In all, 28 mobile vaccination centres will be operational to achieve the goal: vaccinate all eligible persons against Covid-19 at the earliest in the State.
The Tika Express vehicles were provided to the State government by Care India, an NGO working in healthcare, women welfare and education sectors. “The Government of Andhra Pradesh has been striving to vaccinate all people in the State on saturation mode, and Care India decided to lend a helping hand and offer a mobile vaccination service,” Roja Rani, State senior consultant of Care India, told TNIE.
Out of the total 28 Tika Express vehicles, East Godavari and Visakhapatnam, which have more tribal pockets than other districts, were given three vehicles each, while the remaining were provided two vehicles each. Each mobile vaccination centre will have two vaccinators, two data entry operators and a driver. Vaccine doses will be provided by the health department.
Care India, which estimates that the entire eligible population of the State would be completely vaccinated by December, hired these special vehicles and the drivers till December, and may extend their service depending on the situation. The entire operation cost, including payments to the staff, will be borne by the NGO.While flagging off the service in Srikakulam, collector S Lathkar said the two vehicles assigned to the district will be stationed at Tekkali Hospital and Seethampeta CHC.