Poll rolls to be used for vaccination drive

Vaccines, their storage needs

· University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored, transported and handled at 2-8 degree

· BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine needs minus 80 degree storage; can be stored for 5 days at 2-8 degree

· Moderna vaccine remains stable at minus 20 degree for up to 6 months and stable at 2-8 degree for 30 days

· The Russian vaccine can be stored at 2-8 degree

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 12

The Centre today finalised the national Covid-19 vaccination plan with a decision to use the latest electoral rolls to identify priority inoculation group featuring people aged 50 years and more.

People aged 50 and more and those under 50 with co-morbid conditions have been listed as the third priority inoculation group for Covid-19 jabs, besides healthcare and frontline workers.

The Covid-19 Vaccines Operational Guidelines that the Centre shared with states today say the age of people will be calculated based on the cutoff date of January 1, 2021, and anyone born on or before January 1, 1971, will fall under the category 50 years and more.

Every beneficiary must be registered on Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) to enable real-time tracking. No on-the-spot registrations will happen.

The document says: “Covid-19 vaccines have limited safety data. It is important to monitor the safety of these vaccines when administered to a large population. Adverse events following immunisation must be rapidly detected and promptly responded to.”

“States and UTs will identify specific days for inoculation and the conduct of the vaccination process will be similar to the election process,” it says.

The guidelines mandate states to form vaccination teams, having five members each, to perform a range of duties from verifying the beneficiaries to addressing side-effects of vaccines, if any.

The document contains detailed guidance to states on how to train enumerators, vaccinators and how to expand cold-storage facilities.