Every healthcare worker needs to be given two doses of the vaccine four weeks apart.
PUNE: The Covid vaccination drive in Maharashtra will be conducted every week at 511 vaccination centres on five fixed days - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Archana Patil, director, health services told TOI on Friday. The decision will be effective from January 25.
“Since we have the required number of doses at our disposal, we can also increase the number of sessions at big hospitals and medical colleges,” Patil said. Currently, every centre can hold only one session covering 100 healthcare workers on a given day.
The decision to increase the centres and vaccination days was taken a day after the state received the remaining 8.7 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine needed to complete the first phase of vaccinating nearly 8 lakh healthcare workers in Maharashtra on Thursday. “We have now increased the number of centres and daily target of vaccinating healthcare workers from
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PUNE: Leading virologists have stressed on the need for strict adherence to the two-dose regimen of the Covid-19 vaccination, saying that while the first dose acts as a launchpad and primes the immune response, the second amplifies and makes the immune response against the virus stronger.
Against the looming concern that some of the beneficiaries in the priority groups might not turn up for the second dose of the vaccine after taking the first shot, virologists urged them not to deviate from the norm as the second dose adds to the durability of protection.
The first dose initiates an immunological response against the antigen introduced in the body through the vaccine. The body develops IgG and neutralising antibodies (protection) within three to four weeks of taking the first shot.
The first lot of vaccines reached Navi Mumbai as well on Wednesday
PUNE: The time taken to collate data of frontline workers largely policemen and staff of departments involved in Covid-19 management will be key to completion of Phase 2 of the vaccination drive. It will also determine when the third phase, meant for senior citizens and those with co-morbidities, can be rolled out.
As the country gears up for the rollout of the vaccine this Saturday, senior state health department officials said it could take 6-7 months to a year for the three phases to be completed and the vaccine be available for the general public.
A truck transports vaccines from SII to Pune airport on Tuesday to be flown to different states
MUMBAI/PUNE: Mumbai will receive its first consignment of the Covid-19 vaccine from Pune early on Wednesday, officials said. The BMC is expected to get around 1.4 lakh doses to immunise the 1.3 lakh registered healthcare workers in the city in the first round.
Maharashtra has been allocated 9.63 lakh Covishield vaccine doses manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) and 20,000 doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech for the priority vaccination drive that will commence on January 16, according to a communication from the Central government to state health authorities.