Internet connectivity, additional staff flagged during COVID-19 vaccine dry run
New Delhi, Jan 03: Some of the issues flagged during the dry run of the COVID-19 vaccine drive were additional staff, better internet connectivity and more time to manage adverse events.
In the national capital, where the dry run was held at three sites, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that free coronavirus vaccine will be provided to the people in the city. Interacting with reporters during a visit to a facility in Daryaganj, he said the system "seems flawless" as of now.
The dry run involved 286 session sites spread across 125 districts. India has reported 1.03 crore COVID-19 cases so far and the exercise was held on a day an expert panel of the central drug authority recommended granting permission for restricted emergency use of the indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, with certain conditions, after giving similar direction for the Oxford vaccine Covishield.
"The states and UTs have expressed complete satisfaction on the successful conduct of the dry run which included the operational process and its linkages with the Co-WIN Software," the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.
More
than
75
lakh
beneficiaries
have
been
registered
on
Co-WIN
software
which
has
been
developed
by
the
health
ministry
for
real
time
information
of
vaccine
stocks,
their
storage
temperature
and
individualized
tracking
of
beneficiaries
for
COVID-19
vaccine,
according
to
the
statement.
Besides
state
capitals,
some
states
also
included
districts
that
are
situated
in
difficult
terrain
or
have
poor
logistical
support
in
the
exercise,
officials
said.
Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat conducted the mock drill in four districts each, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in five districts each while Rajasthan carried out the dry-run in seven districts.
The first dry run was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Punjab on December 28-29 with at least 125 intended beneficiaries at five sites in a maximum of two districts each.
Specific teams were formed for various tasks conducted on Saturday''s rehersal by the district administrations and activities like uploading of dummy beneficiary data, session site creation, vaccine allocation, communicating vaccination details to beneficiaries and vaccinators, and beneficiary mobilisation, etc were carried out.
"I appeal to the people not to be misguided by rumours regarding safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine. We will not compromise on any protocol before approving a vaccine," Vardhan said underlining that vaccine hesitancy was an issue even when the country started polio immunisation drive, but "we must remember its success".
The health minister has been credited with doing pioneering work in the successful mass pulse polio immunisation programme.
"It
is
as
a
result
of
our
steadfastness
and
dedication,
that
India
was
declared
polio-free
in
2014.
Our
rich
learning
from
the
earlier
immunisation
drives
including
the
Polio
vaccination
campaign
is
being
used
to
guide
our
present
countrywide
COVID19
vaccination
campaign,"
he
was
quoted
as
saying
in
a
statement.
Guidelines
for
the
nationwide
dry
run
were
updated
based
on
the
feedback
from
the
insightful
pilot
dry
run
held
on
Monday
and
Tuesday
in
four
states,
Vardhan
said.
On Saturday, the dry run was conducted at identified health centres in Nagpur, Jalna, Pune and Nandurbar districts of Maharashtra.
In Kerala, at least 25 health workers each in four districts- Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, Wayanad and Palakkad - took part in the drill.
"The Centre has informed us that the state will receive the adequate stock of vaccine within two-three days," state Health Minister K K Shailaja said at Peroorkkada where the trial run was being held at the government district hospital.
"The state has completed all preparations," she said.
Delhi
health
minister
Jain
said
1,000
vaccine
centres
will
be
set
up
across
the
city.
When
asked
if
the
vaccine
will
be
free
of
cost,
he
said,
"Yes,
and
in
Delhi
the
treatment
and
medicines
are
given
for
free."
The
Delhi
government
is
fully
prepared
to
receive,
store
and
administer
COVID-19
vaccine
to
51
lakh
priority
category
persons
in
the
city
in
the
first
phase
of
vaccination,
Jain
said.
In
West
Bengal,
the
dry
run
was
held
at
Urban
Primary
Health
Centres
in
Duttabad
and
Madhyagram
and
Amdanga
Rural
Hospital
in
North
24
Parganas
district.
A
senior
official
in
Assam
said
the
dry
run
will
continue
regularly
in
the
state
till
actual
vaccination
takes
place.
Uttar
Pradesh
Chief
Minister
Yogi
Adityanath
said
the
COVID-19
vaccine
will
be
available
in
the
state
close
to
the
'Makar
Sankranti' festival
which
will
be
celebrated
on
January
14.
He
said
that
a
dry
run
of
the
vaccine
was
held
at
some
places
in
the
state
on
Saturday.
"We
initiated
the
campaign
against
COVID-19
in
March
2020
under
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
and
at
the
beginning
of
this
year
we
could
say
firmly
that
the
dry
run
of
the
vaccine
will
be
held
on
January
5
across
the
state
and
the
vaccine
will
be
available
near
around
Makar
Sankranti,"
he
said
at
an
event.
The
exercise
was
held
at
Kalaburagi,
Shivamogga,
Mysuru,
Belagavi,
and
Bengaluru
districts
of
Karnataka.
Tamil
Nadu
Health
Secretary
J
Radhakrishnan
said
overall,
the
processes
worked
successfully.
The
dry
run
was
held
at
three
centres
each
in
the
districts
of
Chennai,
Tiruvallur,
Nilgiris
and
Tirunelveli,
and
five
in
Coimbatore.]
"An
initial
learning
was
that
the
room
earmarked
for
vaccination
should
be
more
spacious,"
the
secretary
told
reporters,
adding
officials
from
the
World
Health
Organisation
(WHO)
and
United
Nations
Children''s
Fund
(UNICEF)
also
witnessed
the
drive.
Each
district
conducted
the
dry
run
at
three
sites
or
more
which
included
a
public
health
facility
(District
Hospital/Medical
College),
private
health
facility,
and
rural
or
urban
outreach
sites,
the
Union
Health
Ministry
said.
"This
dry
run
was
aimed
at
testing
the
laid
out
mechanisms
for
COVID-19
vaccination
roll-out
in
the
health
system
and
to
assess
operational
feasibility
of
using
Co-WIN
application
in
the
field
environment
for
planning,
implementation
and
reporting
at
the
block,
district
and
state
level,"
the
statement.
The
preparation
to
handle
any
Adverse
Events
Following
Immunization
(AEFI)
at
all
session
sites
and
functionality
of
the
Call
Centers
was
also
tested.
The
dry
run
was
supervised
by
the
district
collectors
and
ended
with
debriefing
meetings
at
district
and
the
state
level
to
discuss
the
issues
and
challenges
encountered
during
the
day.
The
health
ministry
said
it
was
in
constant
touch
with
the
states
throughout
the
day
to
seek
feedback
on
their
experience.
It said the cold chain infrastructure is sufficient to ensure last mile delivery of COVID-19 vaccine in a temperature controlled environment across the country. Sufficient supplies of syringes and other logistics have also been ensured to begin COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Around 1,14,100 vaccinators have been trained on the process to be followed at the vaccination sites which includes beneficiary verification, vaccination, cold chain and logistics management, Bio-Medical Waste management, AEFI management and uploading the information on Co-WIN software, the statement said.
The Co-WIN software assist the programme managers across all levels through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification and a digital certificate will be generated upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule.
The number of fresh COVID-19 cases was recorded below 20,000 in India on Saturday, taking the country''s caseload to 1,03,05,788, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 99 lakh, according to the health ministry.
The death toll due to the disease climbed to 1,49,218 in the country with 224 new fatalities, the ministry''s data updated at 8 AM showed.