16,100 healthcare workers to be vaccinated in Odisha tomorrow

Bhubaneswar, Jan 15: A total of 16,100 healthcare workers of Odisha would receive the Covid-vaccine on the first day of the mass vaccination drive on Saturday, officials said. The state has received 4.08 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine in the first lot and has dispatched to the cold chain points in the districts, the officials said. Elaborate arrangements have been made to start Covid-19 vaccination at 161 centres across 30 districts, said CBK Mohanty, Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET). He said that all prescribed protocols will be followed while administering the vaccine and necessary infrastructure have been created across districts for this purpose. On the day of the vaccine launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will get connected with two sites in Bhubaneswar and Sundargarh. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will interact with beneficiaries at a particular site in each district. The government is targeting to complete the first dose of vaccination of 1.92 lakh healthcare workers within a week using the available vials. The state has 3.38 lakh registered healthcare workers, said an official. Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary informed that the vaccination will be conducted at six session sites of Capital Hospital, Unit IV-based health centre, Bhubaneswar branch AIIMS, KIIMS and SUM Hospital. (with IANS inputs)