HYDERABAD: The D-Day has arrived. The State machinery is all geared up to join rest of the country for the final fight against Covid-19 by vaccinating people against it in phases from Saturday. Sanitation workers at hospitals would be receiving the vaccination from 10.30 am, marking the beginning of the battle with the Coronavirus.
“We have taken all precautions, in accordance with the Health Ministry’s advisory. There is no need to worry. To instil confidence among people, I will be among those who would take the vaccine shot tomorrow,” Health Minister Eatala Rajender said.According to Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao, every beneficiary who will take the Covid-19 vaccine will be marked with indelible ink on the thumb. He explained that the measure is being taken to avoid overlapping and confusion, and also to accurately vaccinate the person after the gap of four weeks.
This is just one of the many steps being taken by the department to roll out the vaccine which is happening in a matter of 10 months since the pandemic hit India. “We want to roll out the vaccine in phases after Saturday’s inaugural,” Dr Srinivasa Rao said. “About 50 to 60 beneficiaries at a few hundred more sites will be administered the vaccine on Monday,” the Director of Public Health added.
‘Trust science, take the shot’
The State officials said that vaccination would begin after a formal inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will also interact with the staff of PHC Narsingi and Gandhi Hospital. Senior health officials stated that each of the 139 centres would have 30 beneficiaries coming forward for vaccination and they would be cross verified with the COWIN portal and inoculated.
Special measures are also being taken to ensure that each centre has sufficient material for educating the beneficiaries about the benefits of the vaccine. “The first ones to get the vaccines will be our sanitation staff, who have been on the frontline of battle against infectious diseases. There are about 50 per cent of our staff who are paramedics, security and sanitation workers. They are the department’s backbone throughout the pandemic,” Dr Rao said.
“Help in putting a full stop to Covid-19 virus by proactively taking the vaccine. It is safe and it will break the cycle of infections,” Dr Rao added and urged his own staff and public alike to trust science and take the vaccine.Director of Medical Health Dr K Ramesh Reddy, meanwhile, said: “The purpose of the vaccine is to trigger an immune response. The vaccine will activate the T cells to fight Covid-19 virus.”
“This is a tried and tested science to defeat any virus and we have seen this same science help reduce the impact of swine flu. In the long run, this will make the Covid-19 virus also weak,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister also sought to allay the fears by reiterating how Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), which has overseen decades of vaccination rollouts, vetted the current vaccination programme to tackle Covid-19 and therefore there is no need for fear. “Vaccines are for human welfare. Don’t have doubts about the vaccine because a highly accountable institution like DCGI has done all tests on it and given it for our welfare,” he said.