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Dullo reviews preparedness for COVID vaccination in J&K, handling of UK returnees

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Jammu: Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo, Thursday chaired a meeting to review preparedness for COVID-19 vaccination expected to be launched after 15th of January 2021. He also took stock of implementation of AB-PMJAY SEHAT scheme in Jammu and Kashmir.

Financial Commissioner also had detailed deliberation on functioning of Jan Aushadhi and Amrit stores, vital healthcare issues besides discussing handling of UK returnees, an official press release informed.

It said the meeting was attended by Director SKIMS, Soura Srinagar, Chief Executive Officers, JKSHA, J&K, Principals Government Medical College, Jammu and Srinagar, Managing Director, JKMSCL, Jammu, Directors Health Service, Jammu and Kashmir, Director Family Welfare, MCH & Immunization, J&K, State Drug Controller, J&K while Deputy Commissioners, Chief Medical Officers, Medical Superintendents of District Hospitals and other concerned officers participated through video   conferencing.

A Power-point presentation was presented highlighting the broad contours of the plan and preparations being put in place for COVID vaccination in the Union Territory. The presentation focused on several important issues regarding the subject which inter alia included key assumptions during COVID-19 vaccination, vaccination booths, vaccination rooms, observation rooms, inter-sectoral convergence within departments, public and private health facilities mapped in CoWIN and related matters.

It was informed in the meeting that as part of phased introduction of COVID vaccination, the first round would be covering the healthcare workers, frontline workers and high-risk population including those above 50 years of age and less than 50 years with associated co-morbid conditions.

It was also informed that further phases may be planned based on vaccine availability and epidemiology besides high risk group will further be categorized as 50-60 years, 60-65 and above 65 years.

Financial Commissioner, while exhorting all the stakeholders to put in their best for making this vaccination programme a grand success, said that the goal of the department is to protect public health, minimize societal and economic impact by reducing COVID-19 mortality. He asked the officers for inclusion of Anganwari workers and employees of Revenue department in the first round of the vaccination in view of the nature of their services.

Dulloo, while taking stock of preparations regarding the vaccination, was informed that the session site planning has been envisaged keeping in view the socio-economic, demographic and climatic considerations of the UT. Besides, great care is being taken to minimize chances of any adverse impact following the immunization.

Regarding Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT scheme, Financial Commissioner had a detailed assessment of district-wise registrations and BIS status report till December this year besides reviewing other important aspects of the programme.

Dulloo asked the officers to accelerate the process of preparing Golden Cards of the registered persons so that they get benefitted at the earliest. He also directed for bringing the left over people under the ambit of this scheme in a speedy manner so that all are benefitted by this innovative and people friendly scheme of the government.

Regarding the handling of UK returnees, Financial Commissioner asked the officers to speed up the process of tracing out these travellers with the support from concerned district administrations. He asked for keeping these returnees in the government quarantine centers after they are identified.

During the meeting, a toll free number 14555 was also given for registration of any complaint or related issues regarding the AB-PMJAY SEHAT scheme.

Dry run for COVID-19 vaccination in all states, UTs on January 2

New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) A dry run for COVID-19 vaccination will be conducted by all state and union territory administrations on January 2 to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges, the Centre said on Thursday.

The activity is proposed to be conducted in all state capitals in at least 3 session sites.

Some states will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support, while Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capital, the Union Health Ministry said.

“The objective of the dry run for COVID-19 vaccine introduction is to assess operational feasibility in the use of Co-WIN application in field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation. This is also expected to give confidence to programme managers at various levels,” the ministry said.

The central government has also asked all states and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for COVID-19 vaccination with principal secretaries (Health) and other health administrators of all states and UTs through video-conferencing.

The planning for the vaccine introduction will be as per the Operational Guidelines issued by the Health Ministry on December 20.

Regarding the dry run to be held, for each of the three session sites, the Medical Officer In-charge will identify 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers).

The states and UTs have been asked to ensure that the data of these beneficiaries is uploaded in Co-WIN. These beneficiaries will also be available at the session site for the dry run. The states and UTs shall prepare the facilities and users to be created on Co-WIN application including uploading the data of Health Care Worker (HCW) beneficiaries, the ministry stated.

The states and UTs have been asked to ensure physical verification of all proposed sites for adequacy of space, logistical arrangements, internet connectivity, electricity, safety, etc. and prepare at least three model session sites in each state (at state capital) for demonstration.

They have been asked to ensure that the model sites have separate entry and exit in a ‘three-room set-up’ with adequate space outside for awareness generation activities, display all IEC material at these sites and ensure that all SOPs and protocols are being practised at the identified sites in an ideal environment along with vaccination teams to be identified and trained in all aspects.

The dry run will also equip the state and UT administration in management of vaccine supply, storage and logistics including cold chain management, the ministry stated.

Around 96,000 vaccinators have been trained for this purpose. A total of 2,360 participants have been trained in National Training of Trainers and over 57,000 participants trained in district-level training in 719 districts. States are augmenting the state helpline 104 (which shall be used in addition to 1075) for any vaccine/software-related query.

An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). In addition, adherence and management of infection control practices at the session site, to prevent disease transmission, the ministry said.

States/UTs were also asked to address the communication challenges by taking in confidence all the stakeholders and by augmenting the community engagement through innovative strategies.

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