Indian states asked to form bodies to coordinate Covid-19 vaccine distribution

Seeking to ramp up the infrastructure for Covid-19 vaccine distribution, the Indian government has asked states to set up committees for coordination and overseeing the vaccination with minimal disruptions in other routine healthcare services.

The Covid-19 vaccine introduction will pan out over a year with multiple groups being included sequentially, starting from healthcare workers, the health ministry has said.

It sought constitution of committees at state and district levels which will review preparatory activities in terms of cold chain preparedness, operational planning, strategies for state-specific challenges in terms of geographical terrain and hard-to-reach areas, etc.

In a letter to the states and federally-run territories, Indian Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan suggested setting up of a state steering committee, a state task force and a district task force.

"It is important to create strong advisory and coordination mechanism at state and district level to guide the process of Covid-19 vaccine introduction while ensuring minimal disruption of other routine health care services including immunisation," the letter issued on October 26 said.

Human trials for vaccine development are at present underway across India.