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Ten UPHCs under SMC to begin Covid vaccination

Healthcare workers, frontline responders to be first in line.

Ten UPHCs under SMC to begin Covid vaccination

(Photo: iStock)

Ten Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) under Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) shall begin Covid-19 vaccination.

The decision was taken at the Urban Level Task Force (ULTF) meeting today.

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The state government has asked the administration and the health department to ramp up infrastructure to store Covid-19 vaccines and also to prepare for the immunisation process. Cold chains will be used for storage and preservation of vaccines. The training for the health department personnel on handling the cold chains has been conducted.

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“The ULTF meeting on the preparation of Covid-19 vaccination in the SMC area has been held today. It has been decided primarily that 10 UPHC will launch the vaccination in the SMC area. Each facility will vaccinate 100 people a day,”said the member of board of administrators, health, of the civic body, Sankar Ghosh.

Health care providers and workers including both government and private doctors, followed by police , central armed forces , civic body workers and other frontlines responders engaged in Covid19 management will be given the first shots of vaccines whenever it is made available. In the later phase, people above the age of 50 and those under 50 with comorbidities will be vaccinated.

The officials of the health department, Siliguri District Hospital, were present at the meeting. The SMC covers 47 wards.

The recipients will be certified as vaccinated for the coronavirus, sources said. It is learnt that the SMC-run maternity home, Matri Sadan, has been identified for the storage of the Covid-19 vaccines.

“The vaccines for the routine immunisation are stored at this facility. Its infrastructure will be developed, according to therequirement, to store the Covid-19 vaccines,” the sources said.

The phase-III clinical trial of India’s homegrown candidate vaccine against the novel coronavirus- Covaxin (BBV152) is underway.

Darjeeling district medical officer of health Dr Pralay Acharya said that the infrastructural development for the storage of the vaccines and vaccination programme were on fast track.

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