Arrangements in place for COVID-19 vaccination drive in Punjab, Haryana

Chandigarh, January 15

All arrangements are in place in Punjab and Haryana for the launch of the COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday with healthcare workers to be given the shots first, officials said on Friday.

Health workers will comprise doctors, nurses, paramedic staff and sanitation workers, they added.

Fifty-nine sites have been identified in Punjab and 77 in Haryana for the vaccination drive on Saturday, the officials said, adding that the vaccines will be administered to 100 beneficiaries at each site.

Punjab has received 2.04 lakh doses while Haryana has got 2.41 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which have already been sent to the respective districts in both the states for the voluntary inoculation drive.

“Among healthcare workers, there are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, paramedic staff, sanitation workers, whether they are regular or on contract, working in hospitals,” Punjab’s Principal Secretary, Health, Hussan Lal said.

Punjab has around 1.74 lakh health workers, he added.

The vaccines will be administered four days a week, Lal said.

Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said only the registered beneficiaries, whose data has been uploaded on the CoWIN site—an online platform for monitoring the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine—will be vaccinated.

The sites that have already received the first doses of the vaccine shall necessarily plan for the second doses post 28 days according to protocol, he said.

In the first phase, health workers will be administered the vaccine.

After the health workers, the vaccine will be administered to the frontline workers, including policemen, paramilitary forces’ personnel, sanitation workers and disaster management volunteers.

Thereafter, people above 50 years of age and those aged below 50 years with co-morbid conditions will be covered under the inoculation drive, officials said.

Haryana Director General, Health Services Suraj Bhan Kamboj said 77 sites have been identified for Saturday’s inoculation drive in the state, which has around two lakh health workers.

In Chandigarh, there will be four sites for administering the COVID-19 vaccine.

Chandigarh has received 12,000 doses of the vaccine. — PTI