Andhra Pradesh likely to get 1 Crore doses of COVID Vaccine, puts infra in place

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh is expected to get one crore doses of the prospective vaccine for coronavirus in the next three to four months, said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Friday.

The state government was fully gearing up for administering the vaccine, he said.

Winding up a short discussion in the Legislative Assembly on Covid-19 containment measures, the Chief Minister spelt out the government's plan to administer the vaccine once it became available.

The Centre indicated that the vaccine would be available in 3-4 months and one crore people would be covered in the first phase in the state.

"We got signals to that effect from the Centre. Accordingly, we are readying necessary cold chains and human resources," Jagan said.

In the first phase, 3.6 lakh health care workers, seven lakh frontline staff of other departments, including police and sanitation workers, and 90 lakh people above 50 would be given the vaccine, he said.

The Chief Minister said 4,065 cold chains at 2-8 degree centigrade and 29 refrigerated vehicles were ready to handle the coronavirus vaccine.

The Centre would supply necessary cold boxes and syringes.

He said 19,000 ANMs (Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery) would be used for administering the vaccine while Asha workers were also being trained for the purpose.

Task forces were constituted at the state, district and mandal-levels to ensure distribution of the vaccine.

The Chief Minister, however, said people should take all precautions for some more months. Even if the vaccine for Covid-19 is available, everyone will not get it in one-go. So, we need to be careful for some more time. The cases could go up in winter months, he said. There is a surge in cases in states like Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh with dip in temperature, he said.