Urges beneficiaries to take the COVID-19 vax

Dimapur, April 2 (MExN): As the Nagaland government announced that all COVID-19 restrictions would stand withdrawn from April 1, State Immunisation Officer (SIO) Dr Ritu Thurr emphasised that vaccination is the “only long term solution” to bring a stop to the pandemic.

In a press release on Saturday, the SIO stated that “the biggest vaccination campaign in history” is ongoing, and more than 184 crore doses have been administered in India out of which around 15.7 lakh doses were administered in Nagaland. “This feat is achieved by the concentrated efforts of our healthcare workers, frontline workers, allied departments and agencies all over the country working together in coordination,” Dr Thurr stated.

Urging all eligible beneficiaries to take the vaccine, Dr Thurr elaborated on the various categories or cohorts among beneficiaries and the types of vaccines available to them.

Accordingly, one category of beneficiaries is those in the 12-14 years age group which includes beneficiaries who were born between 2008 and 2010 and have attained the age of 12. This cohort will receive the CorBEvax vaccine. The dosage gap between the first and second doses is 28 days. 

For beneficiaries who are in the 15-17 years cohort, the Covaxin vaccine is being administered with a 28-day dosage gap between the two doses. Any beneficiaries born between the years 2005 to 2007 falls under this category, the SIO stated.

Another category is the 18+ years group which includes anyone born in the year 2004 or before. This category will be administered with the Covishield vaccine with a dosage gap of three months or 84 days between the two doses.

Similarly, the Health Care Worker (HCW), Frontline Workers (FLW), and the 60+ years cohort will be administered with the Covishield vaccine with a dosage gap of three months or 84 days between the two doses. This will be followed by a precautionary dose which will be administered after completion of nine months or 39 weeks from the date of the second dose.

Underscoring that a large share of the world needs to be immune to the virus in order to bring the pandemic to an end, Dr Thurr said that “the safest way to do this is with vaccine.”

“Vaccines are a technology that humanity has often relied on in the past to bring down the death toll of infectious diseases. While the best vaccines are highly effective at preventing hospitalisation and death, it takes coordinated efforts to stop a pandemic,” he maintained.

Towards this, he informed that beneficiaries can self-register on COWIN through an existing account of a family member or by creating a new account through a unique mobile number (one that has not been registered before), or opt for onsite registration by the vaccinator in the COVID Vaccination Center by facilitated registration mode.

“To keep our family and community safe, vaccination is the most suitable solution,” Dr Thurr added.