COVID vaccination drive to resume from tomorrow in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: World’s biggest vaccination drive against Coronavirus will resume from tomorrow in Odisha after one-day pause on Sunday.

The vaccination programme will continue across the State from tomorrow i.e January 18 and the number of vaccination centres will increase to complete the target, informed Health & Family Welfare Director and Vaccine in-charge Bijay Panigrahi today a day after the State registered 85% vaccination on the first day of the nationwide vaccination drive.

The arrangement will be made to conduct the vaccination programme in private and state-run medical colleges of the State. The beneficiaries will be vaccinated at two sessions in district headquarters hospitals and sub-divisional hospitals. As many as 200 people will be given the shot of COVID-19 vaccine in all these sites, Panigrahi said.

To achieve the target, there will be six vaccine in-charges instead of five. However, the vaccine will be administered to beneficiaries at the PHCs and CHCs as per the SoP framed by the Government.

Yesterday, as many as 13,980 beneficiaries (85%) were administered the COVID vax in Odisha on the first day of the countrywide vaccination drive.

According to State Health & Family Welfare Department, Six districts of the State registered 100% vaccination on the first day.

“Though the side effects were noticed among some people in Dhenkanal, Salipur and Rayagada after they got the shot of COVID vaccine, it was due to nervousness,” said Panigrahi adding, “no major side effects have been reported later.”