Goa gets 18,000 vaccine doses, inoculation to resume on Friday

A consignment of 18,000 vaccinedoses against COVID-19 reached Goa by a flight from Mumbai onWednesday morning and the immunisation drive in the state willresume from Friday, a senior health department official said.

The vaccination process began in the state lastSaturday at seven centres, including two private hospitals.

Talking to PTI on Wednesday, Goa Health ServicesDirector Dr Jose D'Sa said the next round of vaccination wouldbe held across the state from Friday onwards.

He said the state is adding more facilities, includingprivate hospitals, for the inoculation process.

A consignment of 18,000 vaccine doses reached thestate in the morning by a flight from Mumbai, he informed.

Last week, the state had received a stock of 23,500vaccine doses, out of which 426 were given to health workerson the first day of the inoculation drive.

D'Sa said the vaccination will continue on Saturdayalso and they are thinking of holding the immunisationprogramme four days a week from the next week.

The list of beneficiaries is drawn through a centralportal, which will be followed by local officials, he said.

''The exact number of community health centres (state-run) and private hospitals for the vaccination process will beknown later as the list is under process,'' he said.

The registered beneficiaries will get a text messageon their mobile phones, informing them about the time andplace for their vaccination, the official said.

On Tuesday, Goa's coronavirus caseload rose to 52,570after 112 people tested positive for the infection.

The state has so far reported 756 deaths to thedisease, while 50,952 patients have recovered, as per officialfigures.