After successfully conducting the coronavirus vaccination dry run in four States, a similar mega-drill will be kicked off across the country on January 2.
This is aimed at preparing the entire administration and management of vaccine supply, storage, and logistics, including cold chain management, as Covid-19 vaccines are likely to get approval any time soon.
The dry run will be conducted by all the States and UTs in their respective Capitals in at least three-session sites. Some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support and Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their Capital, a senior official from the Union Health Ministry said.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for Covid-19 vaccination with respective Secretaries (Health), NHM MDs and other health administrators of all States/UTs through video conference.
The planning for the vaccine introduction will be as per the operational guidelines issued by the Ministry on December 20. For each of the three session sites, the medical officer in-charge will identify 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers).
The States/UTs have been asked to ensure that the data of these beneficiaries is uploaded in CoWIN. These beneficiaries will also be available at the session site for the dry run. The States and UTs shall prepare the facilities and users to be created on CoWIN application including uploading the data of healthcare worker beneficiaries.
The States/UTs also been asked to ensure physical verification of all proposed sites for the adequacy of space, logistical arrangements, internet connectivity, electricity, safety, etc.
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. Around 96,000 vaccinators have been trained for this purpose.
The official said an important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation, besides adherence and management of infection control practices at the session site to prevent disease transmission.
He said, “The mock drill will include concurrent monitoring and review at block and district levels, and preparation of feedback. The State Task Force shall review the feedback and share with the Ministry.”
The first round of the dry run was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab on December 28-29 in two districts each where five-session sites with 25 beneficiaries each were identified. No major issues were observed in the operational aspects of the dry run.
