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from November 2020. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had received several requests from the trial participants for digital vaccination certificates through Co-WIN.
It was decided that vaccination certificates may be issued to such participants who were administered the vaccines during these trials/studies, after the trials/studies were unblinded. ICMR was designated by the Union Health Ministry as the nodal agency for collection of vaccination data for such participants. ICMR had provided the data for 11,349 such persons to the MoHFW. Digital vaccination certificates have now been issued through Co-WIN, to such persons who participated in these studies/trials of Covishield and Covaxin.
Website link:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1748301
Vice President urges medical fraternity to educate people on the
safety of COVID-19 vaccine to make it a people’s movement
The Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu urged the medical fraternity in general and the Indian Medical Association, in particular, to take up special awareness campaigns to educate people about the safety and importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
Inaugurating ‘Vaccinate India Programme’, on 24 August 2021, an initiative of Sustainable Goals Coordination Center, Government of Karnataka in collaboration with Give India Foundation, the Vice President said, there appears to be hesitancy in some quarters to get vaccinated. It is absolutely essential to educate and create awareness among those who are still harbouring doubts, he added.
Calling for turning COVID-19 vaccination drive into a jan-andolan, Shri Naidu exhorted all people’s representatives to ensure that everyone is vaccinated in their constituencies. He also urged the media to educate people on the need to shed vaccine hesitancy. “False beliefs need to be dispelled by providing accurate information,” he stressed.
Observing that vaccination is the most effective shield against COVID-19, the Vice President said that it would help in preventing hospitalisation and lessen the severity of the disease. “In other words, even if infected by the virus, the disease will be mild,” he added.
Emphasising that the fight against Coronavirus cannot be won without people’s cooperation, Shri Naidu appealed to everyone to wear mask, wash hands frequently, observe safe distancing and lead a disciplined and healthy lifestyle. He asked youngsters to avoid junk food and eat properly cooked traditional Indian food, which is more suited to our bodily and climatic conditions.
The Vice President said the pandemic has brought into sharp focus the need to fill the gaps in our health infrastructure from urban centres to rural hinterlands on a priority. Stressing the need to bestow special attention on backward and remote areas in this regard, he urged the private sector to join hands with the government to give a major boost to the health infrastructure.
Pointing out that even the most advanced nations with modern and better medical facilities could not effectively cope with the magnitude of the crisis created by COVID-19, the Vice President said that concerted action by the Government of India, all the State Governments and Union Territories has enabled the country to contain COVID-19 in a fairly satisfactory manner.
Website link:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1748500
VOL. IV ISSUE 10
VIGYAN PRASAR 33
COVID-19 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS IN INDIA