AP ready with equipment to store Covid vaccine

Andhra Pradesh health and family welfare commissioner Bhaskar Katamneni said in a statement on Saturday that large refrigerators with upto 40,00 litres capacity will be sent to the storage centres on Monday.

Vijaywada:Large ice lined refrigerators (LARGE-ILR) used for vaccination storage have already reached the state headquarters for the storage of vaccines in Gannavaram in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. These will be sent to the designated centers from Monday. Six walk-in-coolers will be coming soon. 40,000 litres of three and 16,500 litres of vaccine in another three will be stored.

Andhra health and family welfare commissioner Bhaskar Katamneni said in a statement on Saturday that the six LARGE-ILR will be sent to the designated centers from Monday.

Among these, three are of 40,000 litres capacity and three are of 16,500 litres.

The state has also installed 50 CCTV cameras in vaccination storage centers and the health department is connected to the command control room to monitor any possible vaccine theft and misuse.

Along with the headquarters in Gannavaram, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Visakhapatnam regions and district headquarters are under tight security.

Currently there are 26 vehicles in the state for the transportation of vaccine for pregnant women and children. Additionally, 25 vehicles will deployed and their movements will be monitored with GPRS technology. Along with that, a policeman would be posted in each vehicle.

Katamneni also added that health workers will be aware of the functioning of the CoWin-20 app with the vaccine 'Dry Run' to be conducted on 28 and 29 December 2020.