Ahead of 16th January inoculation drive, the Government of India on Thursday circulated the dos and don'ts for vaccination to the states. The inoculation drive is expected to cover 3 lakh healthcare workers across 3,006 sites across the country.
Centre guidelines to states | Key points
1. Vaccination is only for those who are above the age of 18 years. Pregnant Women or women who are not sure of their pregnancy and lactating mothers should not receive the vaccine.
2. Interchangeability of vaccine is not permitted. The second dose of the vaccine should be same as that was administered as first dose.
3. The government also said that there will be a gap of 28 days between two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and its effectiveness will begin 14 days after the second dose.
4. There is also a strict protocol for people who contracted the virus.
5. Vaccination will have to be deferred for four to eight weeks after recovery of patients with active Covid symptoms, those who have been given plasma therapy, and those who are unwell and hospitalized for any other reason.
6. The vaccination programme will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by Union Health Ministry, which will facilitate real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine.
7. A 24x7 hotline - 1075 has also been set up to address questions related to the vaccine rollout.
