‘Glitches in CoWIN has slowed down vaccination’

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 22: Glitches in the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) portal has slowed the COVID-19 vaccination programme, said State Immunisation Officer (SIO) Dr Th Nandakishore today.
In the weekly media briefing held every Friday at the office of the Directorate of Health Services Lamphelpat, Dr Th Nandakishore was replying to a query raised by media persons when he made the statement.
The number of vaccinations has reduced due to the glitches. Every jab has to be registered and entered into the CoWIN portal and the glitches in the portal is slowing the vaccination programme. “I do not know the exact reason for the glitches, maybe the portal is weak.” The glitches in the portal mostly happen in the hill districts and far flung areas, said Dr Nandakishore.
The State has informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare about the issue here and it will be discussed in the vaccination review meeting tomorrow. The review meeting will be chaired by Advisor (Health) to Chief Minister Dr Sapam Ranjan, he added.
Till 1 pm today, as many as 1783 healthcare workers were given the Covishield jabs. The numbers do not include Tamenglong and Churachandpur, as reports from these districts are not available yet, he said.
Following the advice of the Ministry, the Military Hospital at Leimakhong has been added as a vaccination centre in addition to the existing 10 centres. Vaccination has been started at the new centre, he added.
The vaccination programme will be held on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday every week. This is arranged not to interfere with other immunization programmes as per the direction of the Ministry.
There has been no report of any severe side effects among the healthcare workers who have taken the vaccine shots. Some of them suffer localised pain and mild fever which usually go away in a day or two. These side effects may be considered good signs that the vaccine is working. Moreover, Covishield has high efficacy and efforts are on to create awareness about the vaccine among the people, he said.
Dr Nandakishore further stated that Manipur  has received two consignments of Covishield vaccine. It first received 54,000 doses of the vaccine and later 48,000 doses.
A total of 1,21,224 persons had registered in the CoWIN portal to get vaccinated in Manipur and of them, 41,024 are healthcare workers, he added.
Family Welfare Services Director Dr P Shyamsunder, who was present in the press briefing reiterated the same issue but also mentioned ‘reluctance to take vaccine' among the healthcare workers as another reason for the reduction in the number of vaccinations.
In addition, pregnant and lactating mothers among the healthcare workers are not given the vaccine, he added.
Health Services Director Dr K Rajo said the COVID-19 situation has improved in the State and the virus transmission rate has reduced. Further vaccination will help control the pandemic, however people should still follow the Covid Appropriate Behaviours. People should wear face masks when venturing outside their homes and maintain 6 feet physical distance, he added.