AP officials worried over safe disposal of biomedical waste post-vaccination
TIRUPATI: Safe disposal of biomedical waste that will be generated during the Covid-19 vaccination drive appears to have become a challenging job for the health care authorities in Andhra Pradesh.
The pandemic resulted in the rise of Covid-19 biomedical waste (CBMW) generation, including in Andhra Pradesh. This is causing concern as the authorities are worried about the safe disposal of CBMW during the vaccination drive as any mismanagement in tackling waste may snowball into a major crisis.
Medical waste will be in the form of syringes, vials, cotton swabs, gloves, among other such disposables. In the first phase while it be around 3.6 to 3.8 lakh healthcare workers, the second phase will include nearly 7 to 7.5 lakh frontline staff apart from 1 to 1.1 crore of those above 50 years will be vaccinated in the state. An equal number of disposable syringes and vials are required.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reports, based on inputs provided by the state pollution control board, the average quantity of CBMW generation in AP was about 10.597 tonnes per day in November. This is in addition to the regular bio-medical waste generated.
Between August and November, the state produced 665.17 tonnes of CBMW with a break up of August - 118.82 tonnes, September – 112.35, October – 116.095 tonnes and November - 317.91 tonnes
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on the challenges confronting them vis-à-vis CBMW, a waste management expert said that the Union Government has issued a vaccination protocol of which CBMW is a vital aspect. According to it, biomedical wastes should be transferred to Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs), where incinerators will burn the entire waste.
“In Andhra Pradesh, there are eleven CBWTFs and they are already running to full capacity. Currently, a high volume of waste is being generated every day, which signifies that the capacity of CBWTFs may be exhausted soon, particularly if waste generation goes high”, he noted.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the pollution control board said that treatment and disposal of waste generated during the pandemic is being conducted as per guidelines of CPCB. The pollution control boards have counseled paramedical staff and others on how to collect, handle and segregate solid waste and bio-medical waste.
“Agencies were also entrusted the task of collecting BMW and storing it separately before handing it over to CBWTF. Besides, focus was also laid on capacity-building and upgrading existing facilities. We hope there would be no major difficulties in handling the CBMW once the facilities are put in place”, he maintained.
The official, however, said “We will get a clear picture on how much waste would be generated during the vaccination drive only after it is available for inoculation. Aspects like handling CBMW would be streamlined thereafter”.
