Covid vaccination dry run to take place across India on 2 Jan
- Union Health Secretary chairs high-level meeting with all states/UTs and asks them to gear up for rollout of Covid-19 vaccine
- The activity is proposed to be conducted in all state capitals in at least 3 session sites, Maharashtra and Kerala may schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capital
A dry run for Covid-19 vaccination will be conducted across India on 2 January, 2021, government told all states/UTs on Thursday. This activity is proposed to be planned and conducted at least 3 session sites, said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan while chairing a high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for Covid-19 vaccination.
The Central government has asked all the states and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine roll, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a press release.
A concerned medical officer in-charge will identify 25 test beneficiaries or healthcare workers at each of the 3 session sites. All the states and UTs have been asked to ensure that the data of these beneficiaries is uploaded in Co-WIN and these beneficiaries will also be available at the session site for the dry run.
Some states will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support. "Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capital," the ministry said.
The activity will be aimed at assessing operational feasibility in the use of Co-WIN application, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation. This is also expected to give confidence to programme managers at various levels, the statement read.
The vaccine introduction will be planned following the operational guidelines issues by the health ministry on 20 December. "As the vaccine administrators will play an important role in the vaccination process, training of trainers and those who shall administer the vaccine has been taken up across various States," the health ministry said.
Around 96,000 vaccinators have been trained out of which 2,360 have been trained in National Training of Trainers and over 57,000 participants trained in District level training in 719 districts.
States are also augmenting the state helpline 104 (which shall be used in addition to 1075) for any vaccine/software related query. Call centre executives have been given an orientation and capacity building.
"States were also encouraged to use the FAQs issued by the health ministry proactively to address any such query," the statement read. "An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation (AEFI)," it added.
The first round of the dry run was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab on 28-29th December 2020 in two districts each where five session sites with 25 beneficiaries each were identified. "All States expressed confidence in the operational guidelines and IT platform for large scale programme implementation," the ministry said.
Bhushan chaired the high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for COVID-19 vaccination with Pr. Secretaries (Health), NHM MDs and other health administrators of all States/UTs through video conference.
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First Published:31 Dec 2020, 04:07 PM IST
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