The State government of Odisha on Friday announced to introduce Covaxin for inoculation of people aged 18 years and above in the district of Ganjam. Manufactured by the Bharat Biotech will be soon rolled out for vaccinating people in Ganjam district including the Berhampur Municipal Corporation area from the month of July.
As of now, Odisha government has been administering Covaxin to people under the jurisdiction of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation only.
The Health Department in a directive to the Ganjam district authorities has mentioned that Covaxin doses will only be administered to beneficiaries who are yet to receive their first dose of Covid vaccine. Apart from that, Covishield vaccine will also be administered to people but only to those who are due for their second dose.
The government has laid out the following guidelines for smooth transitioning in the Covid vaccination programme in the district:-
- The month-wise requirement of Covishield for 2nd dose vaccination shall be communicated to State well in advance for timely supply of vaccines.
- While doing 2nd dose Covishield vaccination of due beneficiaries who are already vaccinated with 1st dose, exclusive sessions shall be conducted for 2nd dose Covishield only.
- All Medical Officers, Supervisors, Programme Manager, Verifiers and Vaccinators shall be oriented regarding use of Covaxin vaccine and importance shall be given on dosage & vaccination schedule (gap of 4 to 6 weeks after 1st dose), route of administration and management of AEFI cases et
- An important instruction to be given is that Covishield and Covaxin are not interchangeable i.e. beneficiaries vaccinated with Covishield (1st dose) should be vaccinated with Covishield for 2nd dose only and same is for Covaxin.
In this context, you are requested to plan for the introduction of Covaxin vaccine in your district in the month of July 2021 and orient all concerned health personnel immediately.
As per the data available with the Health Department, so far a total of 913458 people have been administered with 1st dose of Covid vaccine while 133460 people have received double doses.