This Article is From Jan 07, 2021

Gujarat Asks Centre To Allow Offline COVID-19 Vaccination In Remote Areas

The request was made by Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel during his virtual discussion with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

Gujarat Asks Centre To Allow Offline COVID-19 Vaccination In Remote Areas

The Gujarat administration is fully prepared for the vaccination roll-out, the health minister said.

Ahmedabad:

Ahead of the highly anticipated roll-out of coronavirus vaccine in the country, the Gujarat government on Thursday requested the Centre to allow an offline system of sharing information for remote places in the state where internet connectivity is an issue.

The request was made by Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel during his virtual discussion with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, said a state government release.

"There are issues of internet connectivity in remote as well as hilly areas of the state. In such a situation, the administration faces difficulty in sharing information about the vaccine with the beneficiaries," it said,

"Thus, I request you to consider allowing an offline system for such areas," Mr Patel was quoted as saying in the release.

The COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) system -- a digitalised platform -- will be used to track enlisted beneficiaries for the vaccination and anti-coronavirus shots on a real-time basis. Poor internet connectivity may hamper functioning of the platform.

Mr Patel, who handles the health portfolio, informed Mr Vardhan that the Gujarat administration is fully prepared for the vaccination roll-out.

He added that the state machinery is also ready for the nationwide vaccine dry run on Friday.

In Gujarat, the dry run will be conducted on three sites each in 248 talukas and 26 zones.

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