January 15, 2021 Two days ahead of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in India, the Ministry of Health has shared a list of DOs and DON’Ts with all the states containing precautions and contraindications for Covid vaccination

January 15, 2021 Two days ahead of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in India, the Ministry of Health has shared a list of DOs and DON’Ts with all the states containing precautions and contraindications for Covid vaccination.

Two days ahead of the vaccination drive, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has sent a comprehensive fact sheet to the states for both the vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — containing information regarding vaccine rollout, physical specification, dosage, cold chain storage requirements, contraindications and minor AEFIs (Adverse event following immunisation).

The document containing DOs and DON’Ts has been circulated among all program managers, cold chain handlers and vaccinators also.

According to the handy leaflet of DOs and DONT’s, vaccination is allowed only for those who are above the age of 18 years, the Centre said. Women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating mothers should not receive the vaccine.

Here’s what Centre’s handy leaflet of DOs and DON’Ts say:

1. Covid-19 vaccine is only for 18 years and above
2. Administration of vaccine should be done separated by an interval of 14 days
3. Second dose should be of the same vaccine of which the first dose was administered. Interchanging vaccines is not allowed

Contraindications

1. Persons with history of:
   -Anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of Covid-19 vaccine
   -Immediate or delayed-onset anaphylaxis or allergic reaction to vaccine or injectable therapies, pharmaceutical products, food-items etc.
2. Pregnancy & lactation:
   -Pregnant and lactating women have not been part of any Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy; and lactating women should not receive Covid-19 vaccine at this time.

Provisional/temporary contraindications: In these conditions, Covid vaccination is to be deferred for 4-8 weeks after recovery

1. Persons having active symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
2. SARS-CoV-2 patients who have been given SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies or covalescent plasma.
3. Acutely unwell and hospitalised (with or without intensive care) patients due to any illness.

Special precautions:
Vaccine should be administered with caution in person with history of bleeding or coagulation disorder (e.g, clotting factor deficiency, coagulopathy or platelet disorder.)

Following conditions are not contraindicated for Covid vaccines
-Persons with past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection (sero-positivïty) and or RT-PCR positive illness
-History of chronic diseases and morbidities (cardiac, neurological, pulmonary, metabolic, renal, malignancies)
-Immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immune-suppression due to any condition (the response to the Covid-19 vaccine may be less in these individuals)

Other important issues to consider
-Vaccine specific contraindications may apply as the new information becomes available.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conferencing and adequate doses of the two vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — have been delivered to all states and Union Territories, the government said on Thursday.

This will be the world’s largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country and all preparations are in place to initiate the programme on the principles of ‘Jan Bhagidari’, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Prime Minister Modi will launch the pan-India rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 at 10:30 am via video conferencing, the PMO said.

A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and UTs will be virtually connected during the launch and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the first day, the statement said.