A technician examines a sample collected on Saturday in Bengaluru | Meghana Sastry
BENGALURU: The Karnataka Health department on Monday said that it has initiated necessary preparations for Covid-19 vaccine delivery, distribution and administration as per the Centre’s advice.
This follows the video conference held by the Cabinet Secretary, government of India, with the chief secretaries of states and UTs to discuss Covid-related issues, including vaccination.In a statement, following the meeting, the health department said the state steering committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Karnataka, and the state task force chaired by Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare have held meetings to review preparations being made for vaccine storage and delivery.
A letter has been addressed to the deputy commissioners to ensure holding of block task force meetings.So far, 2,24,083 government healthcare workers and 2,45,773 private healthcare workers have registered for the vaccine and the list will be updated as and when more beneficiaries are registered. The state has identified more than 30,000 session sites (vaccination sites). More than 10,000 vaccinators in the government set-up have been identified and the process for the identification of vaccinators from private facilities as well as per the norms instructed by the Centre has been initiated, it said.
As of Monday, 68,317 government and 35,310 private potential vaccinators have been identified. “Consignee list for installation of cold chain equipment being supplied by the Centre has been shared with them and preparations are in place to install it. Cold storage availability in the animal husbandry department has been shared with the Centre too. Dry storage space available in the Food Corporation of India has also been obtained,” officials said.
The state has requested the Centre for more cold storage equipment. It has also proposed three new regional vaccine stores in Bengaluru Urban, Shivamogga and Ballari districts and has requested for refrigerated vaccine vans to have a better distribution network.
