Page 63 - Covid Special Issue

MoHFW released operational guidelines for
COVID-19 vaccines
Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare (MoHFW) issued operational guidelines on COVID-19 vaccine. As per this guidelines, the COVID-19 vaccine was to be offered first to healthcare workers, frontline workers and population above 50 years of age, followed by population below 50 years of age with associated comorbidities based on the evolving pandemic situation, and finally to the remaining population based on the disease epidemiology and vaccine availability. The priority group of above 50 years may be further subdivided into those above 60 years of age and those between 50 to 60 years of age for the phasing of rollout based on pandemic situation and vaccine availability.
Website link:
https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/COVID19VaccineOG111Chapter16.pdf
MoHFW released COVID-19 vaccine communication strategy to
sensitise masses about vaccines
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) released COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Strategy that supports the COVID-19 vaccines rollout in India. The strategy will serve to guide national-, state- and district- level communication activities, so that the information on the COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination process reaches all people, across all states in the country. The strategy is for building trust among all people by employing transparency in communication and also managing any miss/disinformation and rumours around it. The objectives of the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Strategy are to provide correct, consistent and timely information on the new COVID-19 vaccine(s) (availability, safety, and timelines) and vaccination processes.
Website link:
https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/Covid19CommunicationStrategy2020. pdf
Co-WIN app for smooth COVID-19 immunisation
As the largest COVID-19 vaccination drive goes on, the vaccination monitoring and evaluation is going to be a huge task. To ensure smooth running of the vaccination programme, a dedicated web portal called Co-WIN (COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network) has been launched recently. Co-WIN serves as an extension of the existing electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) module for it to be a comprehensive cloud-based IT solution for planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of COVID-19 vaccination in India.
The Co-WIN system is an end-to-end solution that has utilities for the entire public health system from national up to the vaccinator level. The system allows for the creation of users (admins, supervisors, vaccinators), registration of beneficiaries (bulk upload and individual registration), facilities/planning unit and session sites followed by planning and scheduling sessions and implementation of the vaccination process. As of now it has no self-registration option.
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