Ludhiana: Preparations are underway in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh for a dry run of the COVID-19 vaccination programme that will be held in four states on Monday.
The dry runs will be carried out on December 28-29 in Punjab, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
Dayanand Medical College in Punjab’s Ludhiana and Primary Health Care, Krishna Nagar at Prakash Nagar in Vijayawada district of Andhra Pradesh – the two districts are assessing their preparedness in a phased manner with priority groups- healthcare workers, frontline workers, elderly and population with co-morbidities in the states.
“We are testing the preparedness of cold chain, COVIN software, and vaccination programme through 25 beneficiaries,” said Dr Srihari, Joint Director of Andhra Pradesh Immunisation Programme.
The Union Health Ministry has said earlier that the dummy drive will include necessary data entry in COVIN, 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.
The Central Government is gearing up for the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine across the country and a two-days dry run has been planned in the states considering the geographical locations.
The government has already trained participants who will administer the vaccine. The detailed training modules have been developed for different categories of vaccine handlers and administrators including medical officers, vaccinators, alternate vaccinators, cold chain handlers, supervisors, data managers, ASHA coordinators and all others involved in the implementation process at different levels, to strengthen the capacity of human resource for vaccine introduction and roll-out.