Another dry run of COVID-19 Vaccine administration to be conducted in all States and UTs
Dry run of COVID-19 Vaccine in India: The Central Government is gearing up for the roll out of COVID-19 vaccine in India. The Union Health Ministry has been pro-actively carrying out the preparations for roll-out of vaccine, in collaboration with States/UTs and all stakeholders, over the past couple of months to ensure that the preparations for roll-out of coronavirus vaccine are on track.
Two COVID vaccines have been given emergency use approval by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) recently. The roll out of COVID-19 vaccine in India is expected to begin in the near future. This milestone entails the need for testing of all planned mechanisms for conducting the vaccination drive in the country.
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As a simulation of actual execution, another round of dry run/mock drill in all 700+ districts of all States/UTs (except UP and Haryana who have already conducted/ will be conducting the dry run in all districts on January 5 and January 7 respectively is planned on January 8, 2021, to ensure efficient planning and management for vaccine delivery in each district of all States/UTs.
Each district will identify three types of session sites, similar to the previous dry run including a public health facility (District Hospital/Medical College), private health facility and rural or urban outreach sites.
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In this regard, a meeting of Hon’ble Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan with the State/UT Health Ministers is scheduled to be held on January 7, 2021, to guide States/UTs on the conduct of dry run of COVID-19 Vaccine in India.
The entire planning of the vaccination drive including beneficiary registration, microplanning and vaccination at the planned session site, will be tested under the leadership of District Collector/District Magistrate.
The dry run will also familiarize the State, District, Block and Hospital level officers on all aspects of coronavirus vaccine's roll out.
This activity will help administrators in strengthening the linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms, identification of any residual challenges prior to the actual implementation and to provide confidence to the programme managers at all levels to carry out a smooth implementation of the vaccination drive.
-PTC News
