Odisha to conduct special COVID vaccination sessions for teachers, family
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has directed all districts to conduct special campaign to vaccinate beneficiaries due for second dose along with teachers and non-teaching staff of all government and private schools.
All collectors, municipal commissioners and CDMOs have been asked to prioritise their vaccination and cover most of the teachers by September 5 as instructed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
While around 15.88 lakh beneficiaries are awaiting their second dose, sources said that of around 2.5 lakh teachers in the State, 90 per cent (pc) have got at least a single dose and 72 pc are fully vaccinated. Additional Chief Secretary (Health) PK Mohapatra emphasised on block and urban area wise compilation of vaccination status of teachers and non-teaching staff.
He said the data will be triangulated with unified district information system for education (UDISE) database to ascertain the vaccination status and the number of beneficiaries due for inoculation.
"It will help in estimation of beneficiary load for special vaccination campaign and efficient planning at district and block level," he said and asked the CDMOs and District Education Officers (DEOs) to prepare micro-planning for the special campaign.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has allocated Odisha government additional 11.16 lakh doses of vaccines, including 9,92,380 doses of Covishield and 1,24,590 doses of Covaxin over and above the allocation for the month.
The additional doses will be used for the vaccination of teachers (both the government and private), their family members and those who are awaiting the second dose. Districts have been directed to plan exclusive sessions for teachers and their family members besides to cover all beneficiaries due for the second dose.
Meanwhile, 2.63 lakh people were administered vaccine on Friday taking the total doses to 2.14 crore. So far, 1.62 crore people have got one dose and 51.54 lakh beneficiaries received both the doses. As many as 95,304 pregnant women have got at least a single dose.
The State has a stock of 13.67 lakh Covishield and 4.56 lakh Covaxin doses.
Districts asked to monitor counterfeit vax drive
The State government on Friday asked officials to monitor counterfeit COVID vaccination in the State, if any. The direction came following a communication from the Ministry of Health to increase the vigilance within the supply chains and carefully authenticate vaccines and physical condition before use.
Acting on an alert by WHO, the Ministry also emphasised on the need to guard against unscrupulous activities, especially for special sessions conducted by Private Hospitals under 'Near to Home' vaccination sites.
The State Health department instructed districts to check genuineness of product label and other associated details of the vaccines (Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V) and take prompt action against unlawful practices.