UNION Minister for Health and Sports Dr Myint Htwe addressed the ceremony of Central-Level Refresher Trainer Course for COVID-19 Immunization held with semi-virtual system yesterday morning.

During the ceremony, he said all participants have many years of experience in the immunization industry and are fully aware of the implications of immunization, however, the course aims to let them know the latest information on possible issues related to the COVID-19 vaccination as it is a new vaccine and it seeks to carry out systematic vaccination in the first batch as well as the next batch of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The guidelines have been developed for the vaccination and are sent to respective states and regions. He said the operating guidelines would be updated as more information becomes available. The COVID-19 vaccine, which is being developed worldwide, has only been shown to have efficacy in laboratory and research studies. The extent of its effectiveness is still being studied in practice.

The research is still being conducted on how long it will protect from the virus and how effective the vaccine is after two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. He added the need to continue the COVID-19 protection guidelines, whether a person is vaccinated or not.

The Union Minister also expressed words to thanks to all the participants, including the region/state vaccine officers from Central Expanded Programme on Immunization (Central EPI) They are working hard for the vaccination.

Information about the COVID-19 vaccine is posted for the public on the Ministry’s website and social media and will continue to be published.

The planting date may not be the same from one place to another depending on the number of people to be vaccinated in each state/region, traffic situation and the security situation and hence, it will be carried out under the leadership of the Region/State Public Health Officers.

The Union Minister also added the need to divide the vaccination time and date into areas with a large population in order to prevent the occurrence of crowds in the COVID-19 vaccination.

The Central-Level Refresher Trainer Course is held on 23, and 24 January and the State/Region Level Course will be on 25 and 26 January. Only those who have completed the refresher course will plant the COVID-19 vaccination to the health workers starting on 27 January.

The Township Level Refresher Course will be held on 30 and 31 January. When planting health workers as a first priority, a list of health workers by region/ state has been compiled.

A guideline has been drawn up and disseminated in consultation with the AEFI Committee for monitoring the aftermath of vaccination and providing emergency treatment in the event of an occurrence of side effects.

He said to prepare the medial teams and immunization places according to the population to be vaccinated at the Central level hospitals, COVID-19 treatment centres and health facilities in respective hospitals and health departments.

As the COVID-19 immunization programme must be administered to a group of people over the age of 18, a Consent Form is not required as entry into the immunization site is considered a vaccination agreement but a separate plan will be made for conflict areas.

After that, the discussions were held by the Heads of Region / State Medical, and Public Health Departments and Central Hospital Superintendents and training programmes were held.

MNA

(Translated by Ei Phyu Phyu Aung)

Photo: MNA

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