Over 19,000 Staff Trained for Ventilator Operations Ahead of Third Covid Wave, Says Govt

The Union Health Ministry has trained over 19,000 doctors and para-medical staff for operating ventilators ahead of the third Covid surge, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

The states have been asked to ensure that the ventilators are kept fully functional in the hospitals at all times, Minister of State for Health, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

She also said that her ministry has ordered the procurement of ventilators centrally for supplying to the states and UTs, based on their demands to ensure the availability of the life-saving equipment across the country for management of the Covid pandemic.

“The states have been provided with extensive training on operation of these ventilators and more than 19,000 doctors and para-medical workers have been trained on them. States have been advised to ensure that the ventilators are kept fully functional at all times. They have also been advised to ensure maintenance and up-keep of ventilators, preparedness of hospital infrastructure including optimum oxygen pressure in medical gas pipeline systems, sufficient availability of consumables for ventilators and operation of these ventilators by the trained manpower,” Pawar said.

As per the ministry data, a total of 4,813 ventilators have been provided to the Central institutions. Gujarat has been provided 5,700 ventilators, highest among the states, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

On the question of vaccine production capacity in India, Pawar informed the house that Covishield vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India has current monthly vaccine production capacity of approx 250-275 million doses per month, while Hyderabad-based Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech has current monthly vaccine production capacity of approx. 50-60 Million doses per month.

Both companies have achieved close to 90 per cent of present production capacity, she said.

She also said that other than Covaxin and Covishield, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has granted permission to Sputnik-V), ZyCoV-D, and the vaccine manufactured by Biological E Ltd for restricted use in emergency situations.

With inputs from IANS.

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