A mock drill for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout was conducted in three centres here on Saturday. In the three hour rehearsal, about 25 to 30 health workers were given dummy injectable shots.
Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang, who inspected the preparedness at civil dispensary in Govindpura area of Bhopal on Saturday morning, said that the dry run went off smoothly.
Other locations where the drill was conducted in Bhopal included, JK hospital and community health centre (CHC) Gandhi Nagar. “Mock drill has been undertaken to ensure we are ready for vaccine delivery across Madhya Pradesh,” said Sarang. When asked, when the actual vaccine to be available to the masses he said, “Immediately once it is available and approved by the union and state government. As per instructions we have a first list of beneficiaries, centres have been identified across MP and cold chain management and end pointmechanisms are in place.”
Three hour dry-run began at 9 am. On Friday night, the beneficiaries received a mobile text message. They arrived at the vaccination centre on Saturday morning. Upon arrival their arrival, their credentials andtext message received was verified by the vaccination officer.
Each of beneficiaries was given the injectable shot and told to waitfor 30-minutes before they were permitted to leave. “In case there areany complications, there is a set protocol and ambulance is availablefor transfer to a health facility,” said a vaccination officer in Govindpura.
Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) demonstrationwas conducted at Govindpura. ‘All aspects of supply storage and logistics including cold chain management assessed during dry run of COVID19 vaccine in Bhopal’, stated a union ministry of health tweet. At first the vaccine kept in dry ice in a cold storage to maintain a minus 20 degree Celsius temperature.
Later, in an icebox, multiple vials were taken to the vaccination room. Once removed the vial temperature drops to 2 degree Celsius and administered to the beneficiary, explained an officer in CHC Gandhinagar.