With the aim to amplify mass immunization, manage cold storage, transportation arrangements and crowd management of the vaccine, the government to start dry run in 4 states.

 

The new virus strain scare calls for an immediate vaccine rollout and India being the world's second-most populous country with one of the highest infection rates is looking at considering vaccine as a preventive measure to combat the virus at the earliest. For the same, a dry run of the Covid-19 vaccination programme will be held in four states namely Punjab, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat on

28 December and 29 December.

The Union Health Ministry has said that the dummy drive will include necessary data entry in Co-WIN (the online platform for monitoring of vaccine delivery, testing receipt and allocation, deployment of team members) and India, the second worst-hit country by the virus, has seen a steady decline in its daily infections recently in six months.

The focus of the Covid-19 inoculation drive is on:

    • The management of any possible adverse events following immunization, cold storage and transportation arrangements, and crowd management at session sites with proper physical distance.

    • "This exercise will enable end-to-end mobilization and testing of Covid-19 vaccination process (except the vaccine) and check the usage of Co-WIN in field environment, linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms, identify challenges and guide the way forward prior to actual implementation including improvements that may be required in the envisaged process," the health ministry said in a statement.

    • Infection control practices will be followed at the site to prevent coronavirus transmission.

In Andhra Pradesh, Krishna district has been selected for the dry run, where it will be carried out in five locations, as per Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar.

"We're testing the preparedness of cold chain, COVIN software & vaccination programme through 25 beneficiaries," said Dr Srihari, Joint Director, State Immunization Programme. Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts have been selected in Punjab for the dry run for coronavirus immunization.

The three priority population groups are healthcare workers (about 1 crore), frontline workers (about 2 crore) and prioritized age group (about 27 crore), according to the recommendations of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of coronavirus (NEGVAC),

After the dry run, a report prepared will be reviewed by the State Task Force, which will be submitted to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.