To ensure successful implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out in Haryana, a ‘dry run’ will be conducted on January 7 in all the districts, on six sites, including three urban and three rural sites, from 11 am to 1 pm.
Presiding over a meeting of the State Steering Committee and the State Task Force for the COVID-19 vaccine held with all the Deputy Commissioners through video conferencing, Haryana Chief Secretary Vijai Vardhan directed the officials to ensure that all the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are followed at the time of ‘dry run’.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary gave directions regarding the new strain of the COVID-19 virus found in people coming from Britain and said that tracing and testing of such people should be done on priority.
Also, contact tracing of these people should be done strictly, he added.
He directed that it is mandatory to record the details of the healthcare workers who are to be included in the ‘dry run’ to be conducted on January 7 in the software.
In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department Rajeev Arora said that as per the scheme of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, ‘Dry Run’ was conducted on January 2 in Panchkula district. Taking this forward, now on January 7, a ‘dry run’ will be conducted across the state, which aims to practice the entire process of COVID-19 vaccine rollout from beginning to end so that all the challenges in its implementation can be identified.
Arora said that the platform of the existing universal immunization programme of the State with enhanced capacity will be used for providing Covid-19 vaccine.
According to the central government guidelines, the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine will start this year with the vaccination of a number of groups and healthcare workers.
Health workers will be vaccinated under category-1. Under category-2, frontline workers like municipality and sanitation workers, state and central police forces, civil defense and armed forces and revenue officers will be vaccinated, while people over 50 years of age will be vaccinated under category-3, and those below the age of 50 years who are ill will be vaccinated under category-4.