Registration of health workers for Covid vaccine in final stages in Kerala

The registration of health workers, enrolled for receiving Covid-19 vaccination, is in the final stages in Kerala, state Health Minister K K Shailaja has said.

District-level registration of healthcare workers of all 4,064 institutions in the government sector and 81 per centof 4,557 private institutions in the state have been completed, she said.

Employees of private institutions in Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kannur districts have already completed registration, the minister said and urged the remaining healthcare personnel to complete the process at the earliest.

"In the first phase, the vaccine will be made available to all sections of government and private sector health workers and medical students," the minister said in a statement.

The registration would comprise all those who are working in disciplines like modern medicine, AYUSH and homeopathy on permanent or temporary basis.

Besides this, about 27,000 Accredited Social Health (ASHA) workers, over 33,000 anganwadi employees and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) staff were also part of the registry, she said.

Stating that the state government had made elaborate arrangements for distribution of the vaccine, Shailaja said an expert panel has been set up at the state level for overseeing its distribution as and when the vaccine becomes available in the southern state.

A state level administrator and nodal officer have been engaged for monitoring the vaccine distribution, the minister added.