Vijayawada: Union Government has promised to provide one crore Covid- 19 shots to Andhra Pradesh in the first phase, said AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday. In his speech in concluding a short discussion on Covid- 19 combat in the State Assembly, he said the vaccine is expected to arrive in the next three months.

These one crore vaccine shots would be administered to the seven lakh frontline staff, 3.6 lakhs healthcare workers and 90 lakhs senior citizens. The Government has been framing guidelines for distribution of vaccine and developing storage and transport facilities for this, he said.

He also further said that cold chain units are needed to store the vaccine between 2 to 8 degree centigrade. Asha workers will also be trained for additional support. The Government has constituted task force committees at village, mandal and district levels for effective implementation, said Jagan.

AP can take pride in conducting morethan one crore Covid- 19 tests and effectively containing the spread of pandemic, he added. But, at the same time, the onset of winter has every chance of a possible resurgence of the virus. Precautionary measures should be taken for atleast three more months, said Jagan.

Post- elections, the USA has been reeling under second wave of Covid-19, and two lakh cases are being reported on a daily basis with 2, 500 deaths. UK, France and Italy are under lockdown, and back home, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan have also imposed night curfew, he said. The AP Government has been setup 4065 units so far, in addition to 29 refrigeration vehicles to transport the vaccine. Since vaccination has to be done by professionals, 19K ANMs will be roped in said Jagan.