7.5 lakh health workers in Maharashtra registered for vaccine shot

This digital platform will assist the programme managers regarding information about pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification and then generate a digital certificate after completing the vaccination schedule.

“We are awaiting details from the Centre but are in preparedness mode,” Dr Patil said. He said based on the data collected and availability of vaccine, they will send in their request for the number of doses. Usually, during the routine immunisation schedule, once the vaccine is procured, on the same day it is despatched to other regions and districts, Dr Patil said.

Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, deputy director of health services, Pune circle, which includes Pune, Solapur and Satara, said there was a cold chain capacity of storing at least 10 lakh vaccine doses and 50 per cent can be utilised for vaccine doses against Covid-19. More than 600 ice-lined refrigerators and over 500 deep freezers will be utilised, while initially, the rollout will be done at government-run hospitals and health centres. The cold chain capacity includes a total of 5.9 lakh vaccine doses in Pune, 2.9 lakh in Satara and 2.6 lakh in Solapur. “Fifty per cent of this can be used for storing vaccine doses against Covid-19,” Dr Deshmukh said.

There are 99,000 healthcare workers from Pune district registered healthcare workers for the vaccine while Solapur has registered an approximate 30,000 and Satara around 25,000 beneficiaries. There are 320 ILRs in Pune, 159 in Satara and 165 in Solapur while deep freezers are around 236 in Pune, 141 in Satara and 151 in Solapur. There is a walk-in cooler that can accommodate 1.2 lakh vaccine doses at Aundh district hospital. “We will select government-run health centres and hospitals, which have good internet connectivity so that real-time data can be uploaded,” Dr Deshmukh said.

At the PMC, Chief Medical Officer Dr Ashish Bharti said they were yet to receive the green signal for inoculation. “Phase-wise planning of the inoculation drive is underway,” he said. According to Dr Amit Shah, PMC immunisation officer, there were 70 ILRs and 40 deep freezers. Nearly, 50,000 healthcare workers from the PMC area have registered as beneficiaries.