A digital platform for real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage in the country is being enhanced to track COVID-19 vaccine administration and movement, for when it is available, and online training modules are being developed for vaccinators, the Centre said on Tuesday. The platform referred to is the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN). It is being enhanced to track COVID-19 vaccine administration and movement, from procurement and storage to distribution to individual beneficiaries.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said the Centre estimates to receive and utilise 40-50 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine, covering 20-25 crore people, by July next year. He said the government is preparing a format for the states to submit by October-end their list of priority population group to receive the vaccine. As far as the logistics arrangements are concerned, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press briefing that there are various sub-committees under the National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 to look into thematic areas of vaccine administration.
"As the Union health minister has said, in the first quarter of the next year, we are looking at vaccine supplies coming in if everything goes according to plan and there are no hitches on the way. "There is a digital platform that is being enhanced to track on a real-time basis the vaccine movement from procurement to storage to its administration to individual beneficiaries. That platform is a major intervention going ahead," Bhushan said.
Another intervention is that online training modules are being developed for vaccinators because whenever this vaccination starts, it will require large-scale skilled manpower not only for vaccinating people but also for reporting adverse events if they happen post-vaccination, Bhushan said. He added that there is another sub group within the National Expert Committee that is looking into logistics of equipment associated with vaccines.
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