Storage facility for Covid-19 vaccine ready in Mangaluru

A sophisticated storage room (walk-in cooler) for Covid-19 vaccines has been set up in the district.

District Health Officer (DHO) Sudhirchandra Suda said a vaccine is in the final phase of clinical trials. The storage room has the capacity to stock 2.25 crore doses of vaccine and is completely air-conditioned.

Around 248 pharmacy companies are working on the vaccine. Of these, 197 are in the phase of pre-clinical, 23 vaccines are in the first phase of the trial, 16 vaccines are in the first and second phase, two vaccines are in the second phase and 10 vaccines are in phase three trial.

No vaccines had received approval for the final rolling out. Vaccines should be preserved and protected between two to eight degrees celsius. Hence, all arrangements had been made. 77 cold chain systems were arranged. 1,324 vehicles to transport vaccine had been identified and 9,370 ice bags were also arranged.

Expert staff had been identified to administer vaccine. As per the Central government’s directive, the medical fraternity will be administered with the vaccine in the first phase. A total of 982 private healthcare organisations and 92 public healthcare organisations registered under KPME Act are considered, Suda added.

The storage unit has come up on the DHO office premises. Udupi Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha said a database of all health care staff needs to be updated for vaccination.