The Health Department is set to launch Covid vaccination to frontline workers drawn from various government departments including police, municipal administration, and Panchayat Raj in the next few weeks of February, and roll out the third phase of the vaccination drive for individuals above 50 years in the month of March.
Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender said that the frontline healthcare workers from private and government hospitals have been inoculated with the Covid vaccine. “We will launch the subsequent phases of the vaccination drive in the coming weeks. We are expecting more guidelines on vaccination from Health Ministry,” he said while interacting with media persons on Friday.
The Minister said all government hospitals in Telangana have resumed non-Covid health care services. “All the hospitals including Gandhi Hospital are now functioning normally, rendering all non-Covid services. Critical Covid cases, which are very less, are being treated at Chest Hospital and Gandhi Hospital,” he said.
In the last few months, Covid cases have dropped gradually across all districts in the State. “As a result, we are now planning to upgrade government hospitals and add high-end diagnostic services like PET and CT scans and also more ICU beds at NIMS,” Rajender said.
To further strengthen the healthcare services, the department has promoted about 1,400 healthcare workers across various cadres. “We are also in the process of promoting doctors under the Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad,” he said.
In the coming months, the State government will also streamline Aarogyasri and Employee Health Scheme (EHS). “The upcoming State Budget will prioritise the healthcare sector, apart from taking measures to streamline Aarogyasri and EHS. A system will be in place to combine Ayushman Bharat and Aarogyasri,” the Minister added.
