The Punjab Vaccination Rules, 1959

Published vide Punjab Government Health Department Notification No. 754-6AB 2-59/4400 dated 2.3.1959

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Short title.- These Rules may be called The Punjab Vaccination Rules, 1959.
Vaccination Circles.- Each local area shall be generally divided into vaccination circles, so that each circle constitutes -

(i) in the case of rural areas a Thana; and

(ii) in the case of urban areas a ward or wards comprising a population of 80,000 or the whole town if the population is less than 80,000.

Each Circle shall be sub-divided into vaccination sub-circles of not more than 40,000 population or sixty villages (whichever is less) in the rural areas and 20,000 population in the urban areas.

Vaccination Station.- Every vaccinator shall, in consultation with the headman or sarpanch of the village, or the ward member in the town, select a place (or places in each village or town for performing vaccination, and such places shall ordinarily be used on all occasions for this purpose.
Time of attendance at the vaccination station and residence of vaccinators.- (a) Vaccination station shall remain open -

(i) in summer months (15th April to 15th October) from 6 a.m. to 11 noon ; and from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.;

(ii) in the winter months (16th October to 14 April) from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

(b) Every vaccinator, in the rural areas shall reside within the vaccination circle to which he is appointed and in the urban area attend at his vaccination station daily except on gazetted holidays during the appointed hours.

No fee or remuneration shall be accepted by the public vaccinator for any vaccination or re-vaccination performed at the vaccination station or for any certificate given under the Act.

Visits of the vaccination staff.- Every vaccinator in the rural area shall visit at least twice each village in his circle during the vaccination season to afford adequate protection against smallpox to the people of such circle. He shall visit the village as may times as necessary to complete the inspection of the results of vaccination operations done therein.
Appointment of vaccination staff.- (1) Each District Board, Municipal Committee, N.A.C., and Cantonment Board shall appoint one Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation for each circle and one vaccinator for each sub-circle.

(vi) A certificate by any institution recognized by the Punjab Government.

Provided that one sub-circle will be in the direct charge of the Inspector of Vaccination of the circle in which the sub-circle is mainly located and this Inspector will be vaccinator for this sub-circle in addition to his being the Inspector for the whole of the circle.

(2) (i) Each District Board, Municipal Committee, N.A.C. and Cantonment Board shall appoint a Superintendent of Vaccination and Sanitation for the area under its jurisdiction ; provided that there shall be at least one Superintendent of Vaccination and Sanitation for three vaccination circles within the area of its jurisdiction.

(ii) Each Municipal Committee, N.A.C., District Board and Cantonment Board with a population of 20,000 to 80,000 shall appoint one Superintendent of Vaccination. Each urban local body with a population of more than 80,000 shall appoint an Additional Superintendent of Vaccination for every 80,000 of population.

Every vaccinator, and Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation shall wear, on the breast, a distinguishing badge with the word 'Public Vaccinator'-----------------(Name of sub-circle), "Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation" ----------------(Name of Circle), as the case may be, inscribed on it.

Authority Competent to regulate the appointment, suspension and dismissal of vaccination staff.- (a) The local authority employing the vaccination staff shall be competent to regulate their appointment and punishment including suspension and dismissal, and they shall work under the orders of the Medical Officer of Health of the area in question.

(b) The appointment and punishment of vaccination staff will be subject to concurrence of the Medical Officer of Health of the local body.

(d) The scale of pay of the vaccination staff will be fixed by Government from time to time.

Qualifications of vaccinator, Inspector of vaccination and Superintendent of vaccination and sanitation.- (a) No person shall be appointed to a post of Vaccinator, unless, he has passed a course of instruction in the technique of vaccination and elementary hygiene at the Punjab Hygiene and Vaccine Institute or any other course recognised as equivalent thereto by the Director of Health Services, Punjab, with the approval of Government.

(b) No person shall be appointed to a post of Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation unless he holds one or the other of the following certificates and has also received a course of instruction in vaccination, if such instruction was not already including in the Sanitary Inspectors' examination :-

(i) The Punjab Sanitary Inspectors' Certificate.

(ii) The Bombay Sanitary Inspectors' Certificate.

(iii) The Madras Sanitary Inspector' Certificate.

these rules) shall be granted to the parents/guardian of such child by the Medical Officer of Health of the area concerned.

(c) No person shall be appointed to a post of Superintendent of Vaccination and Sanitation, unless he has passed the examination prescribed for Sanitary Inspectors to cross the efficiency bar.

Private Vaccinators.- (1) No person who is not licensed by the State Government shall act as a private vaccinator or shall perform the operation of vaccination on any individual in the State.

(ii) (a) The licensed private practitioner shall perform vaccination work under the orders and subject to the control of the Medical Officer of Health of the area concerned.

(b) He must be registered with the Medical Officer of Health of the locality.

(d) He must periodically submit the list of persons vaccinated by him with their results to the Medical Officer of Health.

Facilities for procuring vaccination at private houses and fee payable to the Public Vaccinator.- Persons desirous of procuring vaccination or re-vaccination of their children or their relative at their own houses shall intimate this fact to the vaccinator, who shall arrange with the applicant to perform the vaccination at the house, and a fee of annas eight shall be payable to the public vaccinator when he so vaccinates a person :

Provided that if more than one person is vaccinated at the same time in the same house, he shall not demand a fee of more than rupee one.

Fees chargeable by the private vaccinator at place of business and at the house of the person.- Persons licensed by the Government to act as private vaccinators shall in no case demand a fee higher than eight annas for a single person vaccinated and not more than two rupees for more than three person of the same time. They shall not charge a fee of more than rupee one for a single person vaccinated and rupees two for two or more persons of the same family vaccinated at the same time at the same house if vaccination is performed at a place other than the private vaccination station.
Nature of vaccine lymph to be used.- Vaccine lymph obtained from the Punjab Hygiene and Vaccine Institute, shall ordinarily be used in the performance of vaccination.
The grant and form of certificates of successful vaccination and of unfitness for vaccination.- (1) Whenever it is ascertained that a child has been successfully vaccinated, certificate, if demanded shall be granted by the vaccinator, to the parents/guardian of the child in Form I attached to these Rules.

(ii) In the like manner whenever it is ascertained that a child is unfit for vaccination or is not susceptible to successful vaccination, a certificate in form II in the former case, and in form III in the latter case (attached ???

In every case the grant of certificate will be free of charge.

Preparation and keeping of registers by the Medical Officer of Health.- The Medical Officer of Health of the area concerned shall cause to be maintained by the Superintendent, a register for each circle, showing the vaccinal state and the vaccination index of each village or ward in the circle and a register showing the delivery of certificates.

The preparation of such registers shall be effected from the reports submitted by the vaccination staff or copied out from the registers maintained by them.

Registers to be kept by the vaccinators and Inspectors and Vaccinators.- Every Inspector and Vaccinator shall keep registers in forms A, B and C, detailed below :-

(1) Register 'A' showing :

(i) Name, sex, age, parentage, caste and residence of each newly born child liable to be vaccinated.

(ii) Date of operation.

(iii) Date of Inspection after vaccination.

(iv) Result whether successful or unsuccessful.

(v) Date of second operation, if first is unsuccessful.

(vi) Date of inspection after second operation.

(vii) Result whether successful or unsuccessful.

(viii) Date of third operation if first and second unsuccessful.

(ix) Result of the third operation.

(2) Register 'B' showing :-

(i) Name, sex, age, parentage, caste and residence of children from 5 years to 13 years liable to be vaccinated for the first and second time.

(ii) Date of first re-vaccination.

(iii) Result of first re-vaccination.

(iv) Date of second re-vaccination.

(v) Result of second re-vaccination.

(3) Register 'C' showing the names of unprotected emigrant and immigrant children under the age of 13 years and the action taken in this regard.

Preparation of vaccination report and return.- Every Inspector or Vaccinator shall prepare after the end of each month a report on the general result of vaccination operations carried out during the preceding month and shall submit the same through the Superintendent to the Medical Officer of Health of the Local area concerned, together with a return showing :-

(a) Number of males vaccinated during the month.

(b) Number of females vaccinated during the month.

(i) Number successful.

(ii) Number unsuccessful.

(iii) Number unsusceptible.

(iv) Vaccination index of each village or ward in which vaccination was carried out during the month.

Form I

(Referred to in Rule 13)

Health Department-----------------------------------(Name of district or town).

Certificate of successful Vaccination

I,-------------------, Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation or Vaccinator do hereby certify that-------------------------, son/daughter of-------------------, resident of------------------was vaccinated on the-------------------(date) and that after due inspection, I am satisfied that the vaccination has been successful.

(Sd.)...........

Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation ---------------- Vaccinator.

Date------------

------------Circle/Sub-Circle.

Form II

(Referred to in Rule 13)

Health Department-------------------------------(Name of the District or town).

Certificate of unfitness for vaccination

I,----------------------, Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation or Vaccinator, do hereby certify that in my opinion---------------------------(Name of the child), son/daughter of------------------resident of--------------------------is in a state unfit for vaccination and that such unfitness shall continue during the whole/part of the current vaccination season.

Date-------------

(Signature)

Inspector of Vaccination and Sanitation or Vaccinator, of-----------Circle/Sub-Circle,

Form III

(Referred to in Rule 13)

Health Department------------------------------(Name of the District or town).

Certificate of insusceptibility of successful vaccination

I,------------------do hereby certify that-------------------son/daughter of-----------------------, resident of-------------------------, has been unsuccessfully vaccinated three times and that in my opinion he/she is unsusceptible to vaccination.

Date----------------

(Signature)

District Medical Officer of Health/ Municipal Medical Officer of Health, Medical Officer of Health, ---------------district/town.