A dry run for the coronavirus vaccination will take place across India on Saturday (January 2). For this, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday, took a stock of the preparedness. During the virtual meeting, Vardhan stated that the purpose of the COVID-19 vaccination dry run is to be ready for the actual roll-out.
As stated, the dry run for COVID-19 vaccination will be conducted by all States and Union Territories on January 2 in at least three session sites-to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges.
"The lists of health workers have been created and it will be uploaded on COVID platform. Just like we prepare during elections, the same way we need to train each member of all medical teams responsibly," Harsh Vardhan stated.
The minister also informed that after training over 2,000 master trainers at the national level, the training is underway at the state and district level in over 700 districts. The procedure is similar to conducting elections where the polling team at a booth is trained.
Vardhan further stressed that the target of this exercise is that the minutest details are thoroughly researched. "At least two vaccines have sent their applications to Drug Controller and experts for approval, their data is being studied pro-actively," he added.
The Central government has placed orders for procurement of nearly 83 crore syringes. Additionally, bids have also been invited for nearly 35 crore syringes. "These will be used for Covid-19 vaccination and also for the Universal Immunization Programme," the Centre said.
The states and UTs have been asked to ensure physical verification of all proposed sites for the adequacy of space, logistical arrangements, internet connectivity, electricity, safety, etc. and prepare at least three model session sites in each state (at state capital) for demonstration.
Earlier, the dry run was successfully conducted in the four states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat on December 28 and 29.
