Plugging loopholes! After 4, all Indian states start dry run today

New Delhi, January 02: As India waits for the COVID-19 vaccine, dry run remains the best way to check the vaccination and plug loopholes in logistics and training. After four Indian states successfully concluded the vaccine dry run, all other remaining states have taken up the dry run activity today. This day-long drive will also test the operational feasibility in the use of CoWIN application in a field environment.

 

Short for Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network, CoWIN is a digital platform to roll out and scale up the vaccination drive. The massive exercise comes a day after a panel of government-appointed experts recommended approval for the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, to the regulator Drugs Control Authority of India. Today's exercise is the second dry run being conducted in the country, the first was on December 28 and 29 in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat.

 

 

In the process, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has asked officials in all states to ensure that the vaccination sites and those in charge follow the checklist and standard operating procedure prepared by the Health Ministry and shared with all the states and Union Territories to guide them in the dry run. "During this entire drive, we have done massive preparations... just like we do during elections," the Health Minister said, explaining the scale of dry run.

 

"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", he added who said will monitor the dry run in the national capital. Across India, the dry run is being conducted in in 116 districts across 259 sites. Some 96,000 vaccinators have been trained for this, the Health Ministry had said. Of these, 2,360 participants have been trained in the National Training of Trainers and over 57,000 with district-level training in 719 districts.

 

The process, in which 25 health workers will receive dummy vaccines at each spot, is meant to test the mechanisms and reveal possible gaps in the system ahead of the actual vaccination drive. "An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunization," the Health Ministry noted in a statement.

 

India is awaiting vaccination for COVID-19 and it will start anytime soon after the regulator DCGI approves a vaccine. The Serum Institute of India (SII) is making the vaccine Covishield developed by Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca, while Bharat Biotech has partnered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for its Covaxin.