The Andhra Pradesh government has identified 332 locations in the state to launch the coronavirus vaccination programme on Saturday. Over the next 15 days, the state aims to get all healthcare workers vaccinated.
Frontline workers such as police, municipal staff and revenue employees will receive the vaccination in the next phase, said an official statement from the Andhra Pradesh government on Friday.
“After the launch, these locations will be increased gradually to cover all health facilities in the state. It is expected that in the next 15 days all health care workers in the state will be vaccinated," said the official statement.
Those who take the vaccine shot on Saturday will receive their second vaccination shot of the Covaxin vaccine after 28 days.
According to officials, AP received 4.7 lakh doses of Covishield from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India and 20,000 Covaxin doses from Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech. The 4.7 lakh doses have been distributed to 332 locations in the districts where they will be administered.
At each of the 332 designated locations, six staff members will work to vaccinate 100 beneficiaries per day, supervised by a doctor.
"Total 2,324 staff would be working to vaccinate a maximum of 33,200 health care workers per day," said the statement.
Text messages have been sent to vaccine beneficiaries to report to the vaccination centres.
At every location, three rooms, vaccinating room, waiting room and an observation room have been arranged.
"Pregnant women, those aged below 18 years and those persons who have any contraindications for any vaccine should not be vaccinated," the statement added.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is expected to observe the vaccination drive at a centre in Vijayawada.