1600 persons trained for COVID-19 immunisation

1600 persons trained for COVID-19 immunisation

Shillong, Jan 14: Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Government of Meghalaya, Sampath Kumar informed on Thursday informed that 1600 vaccinators, who have been specifically trained for COVID-19 vaccination, would carry out the inoculation programme across the state starting January 16.

Speaking during a media workshop, Kumar informed, “Initially there will be 10 sites across nine districts in the State for the vaccination.”

The Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare also informed that the sites have been identified based on internet connectivity issues.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with stakeholders on the first day of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccine roll out on January 16 at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS).

Kumar, however, said that there was need to remove misconceptions among the masses regarding the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccination, even as he assured that it would be safe and that a “rigorous process” has been carried and a digital platform for carrying out the upcoming inoculation programme was in place.

Informing that Meghalaya has received 35,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine, he informed that taking into account 10 per cent wastage, the state would, in the initial phase have 31,500 effective doses of the vaccine, some of which would also be shared with the armed forces.

“All measures are in place and the entire health machinery is ready to launch the vaccination drive in the State,” Kumar iterated and emphasised that misconceptions regarding vaccination need to be removed from the minds of the people.