New Delhi, (Asian independent) A doctor, nurse and a sweeper will be vaccinated in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the coronavirus vaccine drive at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital on January 16.
The Chief Minister will visit the state government-run hospital — India’s largest Covid hospital — at 12 noon to inspect the Covid-19 vaccination drive.
“Three people will be vaccinated in LNJP in the presence of the Chief Minister tomorrow, which includes a sweeper, nurse, doctor,” a Delhi government official told IANS.
LNJP’s Medical Director said that their hospital is prepared to commence vaccination process on Saturday.
“Everybody is excited and waiting for the vaccine. We are waiting for that moment eagerly. Everything is in place,” said Dr Suresh Kumar.
Almost a year after the first case of deadly coronavirus was detected and claimed over 1.5 lakh lives till now, the country is set to witness the historic moment, with the commencement of the most-awaited vaccination drive from January 16.
A day ahead of the commencement of vaccination exercise, the national capital has completed all the preparations to inoculate its priority groups.
Nationwide, the rollout is expected to cover three lakh frontline healthcare workers across 3,006 sites on the first day.
In Delhi, vaccine will be administered to around 2.25 lakh healthcare workers at 81 immunisation sites in Central government, Delhi Government and private hospitals.
As many as 264,000 doses of the Covishield and Covaxin vaccine have so far reached the city and been stored securely.
According to the Central government, the vaccine will be offered first to healthcare workers, frontline workers and population above 50 years, followed by population below 50 years with co-morbidities, and finally to the remaining population based on disease epidemiology and vaccine availability.
The vaccination drive has been planned in a phased manner, identifying priority groups. Healthcare workers, both in government and private sectors including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase.
The doses are stored in bulk at a cold storage facility set up at Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital, from where they will be sent to cold chain points, and eventually to vaccination sites. The government will provide a staff of 7-8 people at each vaccination site.
The staff includes security personnel, nurses, paramedics and a doctor. Three rooms are designated for the vaccination at each site divided into a waiting area, inoculation room and observation area post-vaccination. There will be a reception desk for the registration and verification of beneficiaries.
Explaining the process of the vaccination drive, nodal officer of Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital Dr. Ajeet Jain said: “The whole process from registration of beneficiaries to observation post-vaccination will take 45 minutes at the site. At the entry point, vaccination officer-I will verify all the documents of the beneficiaries. On being cleared, they will come to the waiting area and wait for their turn.”
“From the waiting room, they will enter the vaccination room. The rooms are equipped with a stretcher to shift the patient to ICU in case of any untoward incident post-vaccination. ECG machine, monitor and oxygen mask on the spot. After receiving vaccination, the beneficiaries will be kept under observation for thirty minutes,” Dr. Jain added.
