COVID: Over 1 lakh health workers to be vaccinated in phase 1 in J-K

Jammu: Over one lakh health workers in Jammu and Kashmir will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first phase when a vaccine is available in the country, a senior official said.

The Jammu and Kashmir adminstration has identified over 4,000 sites and 24,000 vaccinators for it, he said.

The health administration has already started advance planning for coronavirus vaccine rollout and deputy commissioners have prepared district-wise micro-plans for vaccination sites, cold chain storage points and logistics requirements.

"Jammu and Kashmir has identified around 4,000 vaccination sites, more than 5000 trained vaccinators and 19,000 potential vaccinators for COVID 19 vaccination under the COVID vaccination programme," Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo told PTI.

He said over one lakh health workers, both from government and private healthcare facilities, have been registered for the first phase of vaccination.

"The cold chain and logistics assessment for the COVID-19 vaccine has been done, and the union territory has 987 ice-lined refrigerators (ILR), 795 deep freezers, 11 solar refrigerators, five walk-in coolers and one walk-in freezers," Dulloo said.

He said a cascade of training for the coronavirus vaccine programme has also been initiated with the orientation of all the divisional-level and district-level officials, followed by block-level functionaries through virtual platforms and traditional training.

Despite freezing winters and snow covered mountain areas, the health administration will reach out to all the sections in a phased manner, he said.

Jammu and Kashmir has taken strong measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 through better diagnostics and treatment, and now it is also planning for a vaccine introduction for a lasting solution by enhancing immunity and containing the disease spread, he said.

"Globally, over 274 candidate vaccines are in different stages of development.

The majority of vaccines in clinical evaluation as of December 2020 will require a two-dose schedule to be administered two, three or four weeks apart, and need to be administered through the intramuscular route," the financial commissioner said.

Dulloo said there are nine COVID-19 vaccines in different phases of development in India. Out of these, three are in pre-clinical phase, whereas six are under phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials.

"The COVID-19 vaccine will be offered first to healthcare workers, frontline workers and to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities based on evolving pandemic situation, and finally to the remaining population based on the disease epidemiology and vaccine availability," he added.