Union Health Ministry Issues Guidelines For COVID Vaccination At Home For People With Special Needs

New Delhi: The government on Thursday (September 23) said that an advisory has been issued to make arrangements for ‘vaccination at home’ for those who have special needs or are differently abled, in line with COVID-19 standard operating procedures. As per the official communique by the ministry, “This is with regard to facilities to be provided to differently-abled persons for COVID-19 treatment, management and vaccination. In order to ensure that differently-abled persons get proper access to COVID-19 related services including testing and vaccination, the States/UTs have been provided with appropriate advice from time to time. States/UTs are again advised to facilitate the steps.”

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Here, the guidelines stated that the district level officer of disability/social welfare department can considered to be designated as nodal designated made nodal officer for the purpose of grievance redressal of the differently abled persons in connection with obtaining treatment for COVID-19. The nodal officer should work in close coordination with the Chief Medical Officer of the district. The 104 helpline personnel may be oriented to provide requisite information to the differently abled persons to facilitate their proper care and vaccination.

States may also make special arrangements for their vaccination through the near to home Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) as per guidelines already shared by this Ministry with the States/UTs, the guidelines read.

All district level officers may be directed to provide assistance to differently abled persons in matters such as availability of ambulances. Ambulance transport may also be provided to persons with 40 per cent or more disability for COVID-19 testing. The State government can also explore a sample collection system for COVID-19 testing from home for the differently abled persons through public-private partnership (PPP) mode and payment to private partners on per case basis can be explored for the same. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in the official communication that the provision of oxygen beds, hospital admissions, vaccination etc can also be prioritized for differently abled persons.

“The District/City Control and Command Centres being used for COVID-19 management, can facilitate this process,” he said.

Directions may be issued that differently abled persons should be provided hospital beds on priority basis.

Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccines Effective Against Delta Variant Of Novel Coronavirus: US Study

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.