Panaji: As Goa has not been receiving the required supply of ‘Covishield’ vaccine doses from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) for the people belonging to age group 18-44, the state government has initiated the process for procuring two lakh doses of the indigenous vaccine ‘Covaxin’ from Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad.
In a statement issued through the department of information and publicity, the government has said that considering the target population of 6.5 lakh in the age group of 18-44 years, initial procurement of five lakh doses of Covishield vaccine from SII was approved as per the government of India policy at the declared price out of which only 32,870 doses were received by the state in the first batch and the same was exhausted within a week.
“Further, 36,580 doses have been allocated for the entire month of June 2021 for vaccinating the said age group, which is not sufficient to meet our objective of vaccinating this target group expeditiously. As such, the government has also endeavoured to procure vaccines from other government-approved manufacturers. The process of procuring two lakh doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech has also been initiated,” reads the statement.
The government said that guidelines for procurement of vaccines for children are awaited from the government of India. The approximate population of persons in the 0-18 category in the state is 4.65 lakh.
The press communique also states that the process for global tendering for procuring vaccines has been initiated by the government.
The state government has said that on its request, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has allotted 20 metric tonne (MT) of additional liquid medical oxygen (LMO) from LINDE Belloxy, raising the overall supply to 46 MT. “One PSA plant is being installed in GMC by GSIDC and is awaiting commissioning. PSA oxygen generation plant of 600 LPM capacity is received through the PM Cares Fund for South Goa District Hospital, Margao. However, the delivery of the compressor is awaited for taking up its installation and commissioning,” the government said.
“More oxygen generation plants (PSA) have been requested under PM Care Fund for NGDH, Mapusa (1000 LPM), ESI Hospital (1000 LPM), and their delivery is awaited. It is expected by June 7, 2021,” the government said.
The government also said that a total of 567 health professionals including doctors, nurses and technical staff have been appointed on contract basis for COVID-19 management under the directorate of health services and claimed that presently there is no shortage of manpower. The government further said that as per the requirement of additional staff, posts are advertised for appointment on contract basis and are filled through walk-in interviews.
With respect to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), the existing doctors from GMC, Goa Dental College and ESI Hospital have been posted on COVID duty, totalling 350 on rotational basis. Besides, 270 post graduate (PG) junior residents from all broad speciality departments have been posted on COVID duty on rotational basis. Also, additional 134 MBBS passouts have been appointed under the bond service for COVID duty.
Existing staff nurses from GMC and dental college have been deployed on COVID duty and around 400 new staff nurses have been recruited by the government. “Additional 7 technicians have been recruited. Besides, 12 pharmacists have also been deployed from ESI in GMC for COVID duty. 400 new MTS have been recruited and the existing MTS from GMC have been deployed for COVID duties,” the government said.
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