Bhubaneswar: The much-awaited COVID-19 vaccine is likely to reach Odisha by January 30, informed Health Minister Naba Das on Monday.
Talking to reporters, Das said that as per the protocols the COVID warriors including frontline health workers including doctors will get the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the State.
In the second phase, elderly persons will be administered the COVID-19 vaccine after it arrives in the State as part of the mass vaccination programme, said Das.
Senior officials said the State government has targeted to vaccinate 3.20 lakh beneficiaries, mostly healthcare workers in the first phase in Odisha.
The Health Department had earlier informed that there are 1222 cold chains for the preservation of the COVID-19 vaccine, 1796 ILR for transportation and 1772 freezers in the State.
“The doctors and health workers will be vaccinated in the first phase while the elderly and others will get the COVID vaccine free of cost in the second phase,” Das added.
The State Health and Family Welfare Minister further said that the Centre had already issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and already a dry run was conducted across 30 districts in the State recently.
The Co-WIN web portal (trial version) was used for the dry run vaccination. The user ID for each district and Capital Hospital has been created.
At each site, 25 numbers of beneficiaries (healthcare workers) were enrolled in the portal for the dry run vaccination, official sources said.
(Edited By Pradeep Singh)