A two-day dry run for the coronavirus vaccine program starts today in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, and Assam. The aim of the exercise is to identify challenges and make required changes in the plan so that the final process becomes foolproof.
Focus on management of possible adverse events after immunization, and dry runs that include checks on cold storage and transportation arrangements will be part of a program that will be carried out in the chosen districts in each state.
The dry runs will be carried out today (28 December) and tomorrow (29 December) in Punjab, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat.
All four states will report their observations to the center recorded during the program. Two districts in each of these four states across India’s four zones will assess their preparedness in five different types of medical settings – district hospitals, Community and Public Healthcare Centres, urban and rural areas, and private facilities.
The government plans to cover 30 crore people in the first phase when it rolls out the Covid vaccine. A total of 2,360 training sessions have been held so far, and 7,000 officials have been trained, including medical officers and vaccinators.
In Punjab, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts have been selected where the dry run for coronavirus immunization will be carried out.
In Assam, the health department will roll out the dry run in two districts – Sonitpur and Nalbari districts. The end-to-end testing of the Covid-19 vaccination process includes vaccine and logistics mobilization to the sites in the two districts, as per officials.
In Andhra Pradesh, the dry run that will take place in the Krishna district is aimed at testing the planned operations and the laid-out mechanisms in the state, Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar told reporters on Sunday.
“It will provide insights into any gaps or bottlenecks so that those could be addressed before the commencement of the actual drive,” Bhaskar added.
Across the four states, five sessions will be held at identified locations with 25 test pre-identified beneficiaries – healthcare workers – for each session.
Feasibility of Co-WIN, an electronic application that identifies beneficiaries, and prerequisites for vaccine introduction as per operational guidelines will be assessed.
The Union Health Ministry has said that the dummy drive will include necessary data entry in Co-WIN, which is the online platform for monitoring of vaccine delivery, testing receipt and allocation, deployment of team members, mock drill of session sites with test beneficiaries as well as reporting and evening meeting.
According to the recommendations of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of coronavirus (NEGVAC), three prioritized population groups are healthcare workers (about 1 crore), frontline workers (about 2 crores), and prioritized age group (about 27 crores).
AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunisation) panels will be formed and treatment centers will also be identified if the vaccine triggers an adverse response in any of the beneficiaries.
“After the dry run, we will prepare a report for the State Task Force, which will review the feedback and guide us on further actions,” Bhaskar said. The report will also be submitted to the Union Health Ministry, the Commissioner added.
India has logged over 1.01 crore coronavirus cases so far, the second-highest in the world after the United States. Over 1.47 lakh people have died after contracting the virus, one of the most infectious the world has seen in decades.
