To make the health officials ready for the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination programme in the state,a two- day (11 & 12 Dec) virtual training session on COVID-19 Vaccine Operational Guidelines jointly organised by Health Dept & UNICEF in Jharkhand concluded today. 

The orientation programme had started on Friday with the keynote address of Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni, Principal Secretary, Dept. of Health & Family Welfare GoJ & Mr Ravishankar Shukla, MD, National Health Mission (NHM) Jharkhand.   

This training session was attended by the district level govt health officials - Civil Surgeons, DRCHs, DPMs, DDMs, VCCMs/Cold Chain Handlers, Dist/Urban Health Managers, District Program Officers, Hospital Managers, Deputy Superintendents of Hospitals, DPCs & Nursing Colleges principals. Along with them the representatives from WHO, UNICEF, IPE Global, TRIF & UNDP also participated in the session.

During the training session all the issues pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination preparedness like, Planning for COVID-19 Vaccination and Conducting Sessions, Vaccine and Cold Chain Management, Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI), Monitoring & Supervision, Advocacy, communication and social mobilization, Media Engagement and Social Media handling, Capacity Building of Health Functionaries, Governance Mechanism, Inter-Sectoral Coordination, Preparation of State Timeline & Safe Injection and Waste Disposal management were discussed widely.

The training session was addressed by DR. A. K. Prasad (H&FW); Dr Amar Mishra, Deputy Director (H&FW); Ms Astha Alang, Communication, Advocacy & Partnership officer, UNICEF; Mr Danish Khan, communication for development specialist, UNICEF; Dr Vanesh Mathur, Health Officer, UNICEF;   Dr Amrendra & Dr. Anoob from WHO & Mr Prem Kamal from UNDP.