Pune: State urges doctors, nurses to become ‘vaccinators’ for first round of shots

Pune: State health officials have now started identifying ‘vaccinators’ across government and private sectors to limit disruption of routine immunization programmes during the Covid vaccine drive among frontline healthcare workers.

Doctors and paramedical staff working in the private sector have also been asked to volunteer as vaccinators to swiftly carry out the inoculation programmes.

A massive exercise is currently under way to collect the total number of healthcare workers in government and private hospitals and nursing homes. A Covid-19 ‘vaccine beneficiary management system’ has also been developed, with government and private healthcare units asked to submit details of staff who will be among the first to receive a vaccine against the new coronavirus.

State immunisation officer Dileep Patil said, “We have appealed to private doctors and paramedics, including skilled nurses, to volunteer as vaccinators to administer the Covid-19 vaccine. The move is part of our preparedness plan for smooth vaccination of government and private healthcare workers who are first on the priority list for Covid vaccination.” When asked about the estimated number of healthcare workers who will be vaccinated in the state, Patil said, “It is difficult to point at an exact number of healthcare workers in the state who have shown willingness for vaccination. It is a voluntary activity. The data is being compiled and it will be ready by the end of December.” Members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said they have already decided to volunteer as vaccinators.

“There are a total of 46,000 IMA members in Maharashtra. All of them have unanimously decided to volunteer as vaccinators,” said eye surgeon Sanjay Patil, the vice president of the association’s state chapter.

Patil, who is also the chairman of the IMA’s Hospital Board of India (Pune branch) — an association of small and medium-sized hospitals in the city — said medical staff with most private hospitals have said they are willing to work as vaccinators during the mass inoculation drive among healthcare workers.

“There are a total of 200 small and medium-sized hospitals in Pune that have communicated their qualified workers’ willingness to work as vaccinators to the Pune Municipal Corporation’s health department,” Patil said.

Successful vaccination drives among frontline workers will be vital. Studies have shown that even in advanced healthcare settings, medical workers are nearly 12 times more likely to test positive for the virus than the general population.