BENGALURU: From the BJP government at the Centre to US presidential candidate Joe Biden, the promise of delivering “free vaccination for all” has become a part of the election campaign. While globally, scientists are working at a breakneck speed to ready a vaccine by 2020 end or early 2021, the BJP's promise of a free Covid vaccine for all in Bihar has turned it into an election issue.
Karnataka, which has seen a considerable drop in new cases, is chalking out a strategy to ensure that all people are vaccinated and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan on Saturday said that the vaccine will be free for all in the state. Ahead of the bypolls to two Assembly constituencies, opposition Congress too has demanded the vaccine be made free.
Voicing a similar view, Dr Halanuru S Lepakshi, an independent candidate from the South East Graduates' constituency, said, “It is unfortunate that none of the candidates from the ruling party is talking about it.”
Health Department officials said that a series of meetings are being held with over 500 experts on rolling out the vaccine.
“From high testing to number of recoveries, the State has done a tremendous job in handling the pandemic. With a vaccine to be out in the next few months, the State doesn’t want to be lax on procurement and delivery. A series of meetings are being held at the State and Central level," said state Health and Minister Dr K Sudhakar.
The Centre has given the State three months to prepare a plan, sources said.
“The Union Health Ministry is ready with a plan to use 400-500 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, covering approximately 25 crore people by July 2021,” Dr Sudhakar explained.
The World Health Organisation says around 240 vaccines are in early development, with 40 in clinical trials and nine in the final stages of testing.
Health officials in the State said three vaccine candidates are viable — AstraZeneca and the Oxford University's vaccine being produced in collaboration with Pune-based Serum Institute of India in the third phase of trials, Zydus Cadila's candidate in phase-2 trials since August 6, and Bharat Biotech's vaccine in phase-2 trials since September.
Dr Sudhakar said that a vaccine is expected by January, but there is an issue: “Though India has a vast experience in immunisation of children, we have not done extensive adult vaccination like in the West. We need to plan this well and do it in phases."
A digital platform will be developed to ensure that everyone is vaccinated. The Centre is working on one such platform, while the State too will develop its own soon to track the vaccine “from procurement to storage to distribution to individual beneficiaries,” a senior health official said.
A senior epidemiologist said that the state should involve private players in vaccine distribution.
"A public-private partnership model will be ideal. But the Centre and State are not ready for it now," he said.
The state has decided to vaccinate people in phases, with the first covering health and sanitisation staff, ASHA workers, surveillance officers and volunteers.
The tentative schedule for this is January-end or early February 2021. The next phase will cover vulnerable populations, like people with comorbidities, and is likely to be done by May or June.
Only after this, the rest of the population will be vaccinated. "In the next three months, collecting data and rechecking the available data will start. Thousands of people are being involved and technology is being developed," a health ministry official said.
Kalaburagi District Health Officer Dr Rajashekhar Male and WHO Representative of Kalaburagi district Dr Anil Talikoti said that DHOs of all districts have been asked to make a list of healthcare providers and submit it by October 28 to allow the State to dispatch it to the Centre by October 30.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner K V Rajendra said, “The process of collecting data on health workers has already begun.”
In Shivamogga, DHO Dr Rajesh Suragihalli said, “We have around 4,750 staff including ASHAs.”
With inputs from: Ramkrishna Badsheshi, Arunkumar Huralimath, Marx Tejaswi, Subash Chandra G.