‘Just like elections’: Health Minister reviews dry run preparations for Covid vaccination

New Delhi, Jan 01: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said preparation for the dry run of coronavirus vaccination is in the final stage and the infrastructure is ready.

"The purpose of the vaccine dry run is to be ready for the actual roll-out. We are using the past experiences to roll out the vaccination," said Harsh Vardhan after reviewing the preparation for dry run of Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 2 along with Delhi government via video conferencing.

"Target of this exercise is that minutest details are thoroughly researched. At least two vaccines have sent their applications to Drug Controller and experts for approval, their data are being studied pro-actively," Vardhan said.

"The lists of health workers have been created and will be uploaded on Covid platform. Just like we prepare during elections, the same way we need to train each member of all medical teams responsibly," Vardhan added.

"After training over 2,000 master trainers at the national level, the training is underway at the state and district level, in over 700 districts. The procedure is similar to conducting elections where the team at a booth is also trained," Vardhan further added.

All District Magistrates, Health team officials, administrative officials, police deployment, transportation mechanism have been directed to coordinate for a better outcome.

This is a massive exercise that engages NGOs also, apart from the state task force.

A dry run for Covid-19 vaccination will be conducted across India on 2 January, 2021.

Some states will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support, while Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capital.

The central government has also asked all states and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for COVID-19 vaccination with principal secretaries (Health) and other health administrators of all states and UTs through video-conferencing.