Tika Utsav: All you need to know about the 4-day vaccination drive in Vizag

To accelerate the vaccination process across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced a four-day nationwide vaccination drive called ‘Tika Utsav’. This mission has been launched with the intention to inoculate the highest possible number of eligible people around the country. On Thursday, PM Modi held an interaction with the respective Chief Ministers of all states and stressed the need to intensify the Covid-19 vaccination and testing processes. PM Narendra Modi has urged everyone to realise the gravity of this challenging situation and come together to eradicate Covid-19. With the Tika Utsav starting from Sunday, here’s how Vizag is preparing for the special vaccination drive. Yo! Vizag speaks with AMC Principal Dr PV Sudhakar.

All you need to know about the 4-day vaccination drive in Vizag

Objective

The District Administration of Vizag aims to inoculate about 25-30 thousand Vizag citizens during the Tika Utsav

Plan of Action

The Visakhapatnam District Administration is going to vaccinate people at ward sachivalayams. One Ward Sachivalayam, from each PHC (Primary Health Center), will be covered every day. This way, they plan to vaccinate people from all 167 PHCs in Vizag.

Where to get vaccinated?

Every evening, the District Immunization Officer of Vizag will release a list of ward sachivalayams that will be covered the following day, as part of the vaccination drive.

Is it possible to get vaccinated at private hospitals?

Yes, apart from the 574 Ward sachivalayams, the vaccine will also be made available at various private hospitals around the city. The only difference is that it will cost you Rs.250 to be inoculated there, whereas you can get it done for free at a ward sachivalayam.

What if there is a shortage of vaccines in Visakhapatnam?

A request has already been put to the Central Government, by the state, and if a scarcity of Covid-19 vaccines happens, the district’s vaccine stocks will be accordingly replenished.

Will night curfew be imposed in Vizag?

No, as of now, the Visakhapatnam District Administration, and the Andhra Pradesh State Government, are both focussing on the vaccination drive and effective voluntary containment of the virus.

So, you can see that Vizag is preparing to take an active part in the ‘Tika Utsav’ and vaccinate the highest possible number of eligible beneficiaries. If you fall in the ‘45 years or above’ age bracket and haven’t got yourself vaccinated yet, kindly do so and reduce the risk of catching the coronavirus.

The Prime Minister stated that the target, during the Tika Utsav, is to raise the frequency of RT-PCR tests to 70% and bring down the rate of Covid-19 positive cases to below 5%. In addition to this, the Prime Minister also made a suggestion regarding the tracking of the Covid-19 virus. He urged all states to ensure that whenever a patient has tested Covid- positive, at least 30 immediate contacts must be further tested in the immediate 72 hours.

The Tika Utsav will begin on 11th April 2021 and go on till 14th April 2021. In this 4-day period, each state will strive to vaccinate as many people over the age of 45 as possible.

In the past few weeks, a few states, like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Karnataka, and Gujarat, have witnessed a significant rise in the number of new Covid-19 cases. According to the Union Health Ministry, these states are contributing close to 84% of the total new cases in the country.