Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is collating the exact number and other details of frontline healthcare workers in government, municipal and private hospitals who will be given COVID-19 vaccine in the first stage coming December 2020 or January 2021. Health staff and doctors from private hospitals are also included in this plan and their information is also being gathered.
The first COVID-19 patient in the state was found in Pune city seven months before on March 9. The COVID-19 outbreak turned severe thereafter in Pune as well as in Mumbai city. Several companies and agencies are involved in human trials and production of COVID-19 vaccines, but Oxford-Astrazeneca and Serum Institute vaccine candidates are amongst the leading one. Third phase human trials of Serum's vaccine are underway at the B J Medical College, Bharati Vidyapeeth Hospital and KEM hospital. This vaccine is expected to be available in December 2020 or January 2021. On this background, the central government has made plans for effective distribution of the vaccines across the country.
Dr Ashish Bharati, Health Chief of the Pune Municipal Corporation said, "The vaccine will be given to all frontline healthcare workers in all government, municipal and private hospitals. It will include everyone right from doctors to ward staff. In order to do so, we need the number of such staff and doctors in the city and hence we are collecting the information regarding this. We have also sent a letter to private hospitals regarding sharing this information."
Out of the total cases of COVID-19 in Pune city, nearly 78 per cent of patients were treated in private hospitals. Hence doctors and staff from private hospitals will also be included in the first phase of vaccination, said, medical experts.
