Updated: October 25, 2020 8:27:59 am
“Once the person is vaccinated, and if there is no adverse event after vaccination, a QR-based digital certificate will be generated, again automatically by the system,” the sources said.
An SMS delivered to the beneficiary days before the vaccination, detailing the time and place; a QR code certificate, generated after each dose; and, the health establishments that involve the great network of schools, in line with the elections, in the immunization campaign to ensure rapid access to the vaccine.
These are some of the key features discussed in detail by a group of experts, which is currently developing the plan to carry out the country’s largest immunization campaign against Covid-19 early next year, The Sunday Express learned.
The deliberations of the National High-Level Vaccine Expert Group on the Administration of Vaccines for Covid-19 are significant. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a review meeting last week, underscored the geographic extent of the country and suggested that the administration system learn from the successful conduct of elections to ensure rapid access to the vaccine.
Sources told The Sunday Express that the vaccination campaign will not be limited to existing health facilities, but will also extend to schools, along the lines of the voting booths.
The Center expects to receive and use 400-500 million doses of vaccines and cover 20 to 25 million people by July 2021. While it has sought data from the states on priority groups, it has indicated that health professionals would be among the first recipients.
“In the vaccination campaign for Covid-19, one would be below the level of the facility. When we say facility level, we mean PHC or CHC or a health sub-center or a district hospital; but in this case, I would be working on the analogy of holding an election… Therefore, a sub-facility, it can be a school, like a polling station on election day, it will have to be cordoned off ”, the sources. He said.
A decision has been made, sources said, to add a key feature to the eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network), a locally developed technology that tracks vaccine stocks digitally, that will track the beneficiary, the person to be vaccinated.
“The group of experts is analyzing the improvement of the e-VIN digital platform; the improvement consists in adding the module on beneficiary monitoring. This feature is not currently on the existing platform; at present, the platform has acquisitions, storage in 28,000 odd cold chain storage facilities, tracks its temperature and goes ahead, tracks its movement from the storage point to the health facility or sub-facility, ”said the sources.
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Since the vaccination campaign will take place in different phases and will also include multiple doses, sources said that the electronic platform where vaccination sessions can be scheduled is under development.
Consequently, the platform will inform the beneficiaries, in advance, about the date, time and location of the vaccination center.
“This electronic platform allows you to schedule vaccination sessions; once a session is scheduled, the system generates an SMS that is delivered to the beneficiary. It will have details of the date, time and place where it will be vaccinated, ”said the sources.
“Once the person is vaccinated, and if there is no adverse event after vaccination, a QR-based digital certificate will be generated, again automatically by the system,” the sources said.
The government, the sources said, will also integrate the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, DigiLocker, through which beneficiaries will have the option to store digital certificates.
“There will be an option with the individual to store the QR-based digital vaccination certificate in a DigiLocker, which is again a government facility,” the sources said. This platform will provide access to authentic documents and allow the government to verify the data directly of the beneficiaries after obtaining the consent of the user.
Detailed backend preparation for the largest immunization campaign comes at a time when the Center expects to receive and use 400-500 million doses and cover approximately 20-25 crore of people by July 2021.
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