By Team Newsfile 

Bhubaneswar, May 20: The Naveen Patnaik government has asked district authorities to prohibit doorstep drive-in and doorstep Covid-19 vaccination. A top health department official said that it has come to the notice of the state government that Covid-19 drive-in vaccination and doorstep vaccination has been started in some districts.

Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, P K Mohapatra in a letter to authorities on Wednesday said: “You are requested to refrain from such strategies and only to conduct sessions in suitable CVCs (covid vaccination centres) with adequate space following the COVID-19 operational guidelines.”

“In drive-in/doorstep strategies, it will be difficult to manage Adverse Effects Following Immunization (AEFI), if it occurs, and there is also a high likelihood of vaccine wastage,” Mohapatra said.

Odisha bars vaccination on roads, malls 

Some municipal corporations including Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Berhampur Municipal Corporation and Rourkela Municipal Corporation and some district administrations launched either drive-in vaccination or doorstep Covid-19 vaccination facilities recently. A petition in this regard was also moved to the NHRC alleging that human beings should not be vaccinated on roads and malls.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guideline clearly states that vaccination sessions shall be conducted in places with adequate space for waiting area, vaccination room and observation room and have adequate facility to manage AEFI, Mohapatra said in the letter.

Beneficiaries who receive the Covid vaccine are required to be observed for at least 30 minutes after vaccination for AEFI (if any).

Covid-19 situation in control: Naveen Patnaik

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the state. At an-all party meet, he stressed on providing correct information to the family members of the patients. He also asked the people to maintain social distance in vaccination centres in the state.

The Odisha chief minister also said that Covid-19 situation in the state is under control now. According to Patnaik, the Covid-19 recovery cases are more than the new positive cases in the state. He credited lockdown and awareness among people for this success. Patnaik said that the number of Covid-19 tests to be augmented to 70,000 from the next week.

Meanwhile, sources said Odisha has so far administered 68,12,118 doses of COVID-19 vaccines including 76,478 on Wednesday.