On the 2nd of January, Indian cities began mock drilling or dry run for the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 vaccine.
All states and union territories (UTs) will begin the dry vaccine runs in at least 3 session sites, including areas with rough terrain and poor logistical support.
According to the Government of India’s (GoI) directions, two districts of each state and UTs would conduct the mock drilling of vaccines. District hospital, urban site, private health facility and rural outreach, would conduct vaccine dry runs. The mock drilling of the COVID-19 vaccine started at 9:00 A.M., and would continue till 11:00 A.M.
In a vaccine dry run, the entire process of transporting the vaccines from storage to the site, administering them to candidates and feeding data on the Co-WIN app is practised without any real vaccine. CoWIN (COVID-19 vaccine intelligence network) is a platform developed by the Central Government for the smooth and seamless facilitation of the entire vaccination process, right from who gets the vaccines to following up with every individual through any adverse events till the second dose of the vaccine is administered. The test link of CoWIN has been readied for the dry run.
Considering the current situation, the mock drill would make the post vaccine approval process easy without any hurdles/issues.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Health Minister said, “Let us attempt to implement it as a real exercise with attention to the minute detail. Proper coordination will go a long way in building mutual understanding so that the upcoming vaccination drive may proceed without any glitch.”
Mr. Vardhan who reviewed the arrangements of the process yesterday, expressed confidence and said the dry run for the vaccine would be a success.
In Delhi, the dry run for vaccine administration is scheduled at the Poozhanad primary health centre (PHC,) Peroorkada district model hospital and the KIMS hospital in the private sector.
The dry run also took place at the Vazhathoppu PHC in Idukki, Nenmara community health centre in Palakkad and the Kakkamoola PHC in Wayanad.
As per sources, each session site has 25 health care workers to receive the first dose of the vaccine. The Call Centre/Helpline (104/1075) is also being tested by making one or two calls to the Call Centre for queries related to today’s dry run vaccine.
An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). In addition, adherence and management of infection control practices at the session site, to prevent disease transmission will also be monitored
The State Task Force on Immunisation would follow and monitor the dry run vaccine process.
The vaccine dry run was first conducted in 4 Indian states on the 28th and 29th of December.
The five states which conducted the vaccine dry run were Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Assam. The process was a success, following which the GoI decided to extend it across India.
Stay tuned for further updates.
