India / India begins dry run of COVID-19 vaccination exercise in 4 states

New Delhi: The central government has selected four states, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Punjab, to conduct a dry run of the COVID-19 vaccine. The first dry run will be conducted in Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts of Punjab, on 28 and 29 December.

Five sites have been identified in each district. The dry run will assess ‘operational feasibility of using Co-Win application’ and to identify challenges before the vaccine rollouts, reported news agency ANI. Co-WIN is a mobile application which will virtually monitor the vaccination process.

According to a statement made by Balbir Singh Sidhu, the Punjab health minister, on Thursday: “All activities starting from beneficiary data upload, session site allocation (micro-planning), session site management (with test beneficiaries) to reporting and evening debriefing are to be covered in this two-day dry run to execute the nearest possible simulation of the actual day.”

The dry run would be supported by the state’s immunisation partners, namely United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), reported ANI.

30 Crore Indians To Receive Vaccine Shots in First Phase

India may start its COVID vaccination drive in January 2021, hinted Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday, 21 December. The Drugs Controller General of India is reviewing three vaccines for emergency use, namely Pfizer, Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had announced earlier that the Centre is preparing the line-listing of prioritised population groups for vaccination.

In a report by IANS, the ministry said that the national expert group on vaccine administration has recommended 30 crore Indians to receive the vaccine shots first. This figure includes healthcare workers, frontline workers and the general population with co-morbidities.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) put out a tweet on Thursday night, that Bharat Biotech’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, has drawn global attention, and has sparked the interest of medical journal Lancet, that may publish trial results.