COVID-19 vaccine: Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in Shahdara in Delhi, Urban Primary Health Center in Daryaganj and Venkateswara Hospital in Dwarka are the three places in Delhi that have been selected for tomorrow’s exercise.

After the exercise (dry run) of vaccinations in Assam, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat a few days ago, the dry run of vaccination has started in all the states of the country from today. Although the government has not given the green signal to install any vaccine even in an emergency situation, but in a big way, preparations are being made in large scale in the states and Union Territories of the vaccine.
Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to prevent the coronavirus and now these countries will be available to poor countries. Till now these vaccines were available only in Europe and North America.
Drug regulatory agencies of countries approve any Covid-19 vaccine on their behalf, but countries with weak systems usually depend on the WHO for this.
From today on January 2, Covid-19 vaccination exercise will be done by all states and union territories to identify the challenges faced in the campaign and to examine the link between the plan and the implementation.
It is proposed to carry out this exercise in at least three session sites in all state capitals.
The Union Health Ministry said that in some states this exercise will be carried out even in such districts where access is not easy and where there is no good system of logistic facilities.
The ministry said, ‘The exercise of the Covid-19 vaccination will be done to assess the potential of using the Co-Win application in the real environment, test the link between planning and implementation and identify challenges and pave the way before the actual vaccination It is being done with purpose.
The central government has also asked all the states and union territories to start effective preparations to start the exercise of Covid-19 vaccination.
There will be a dry run in these hospitals in Delhi
Three places have been selected for the exercise of Covid-19 vaccination in the national capital on Saturday.
The central government had said that the exercise should be completed in all states and union territories by January 2 to examine the link between planning and implementation and identify challenges.
A senior official said, “Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in Shahdara, Urban Primary Health Center of Daryaganj and Venkateswara Hospital in Dwarka are the three places in Delhi that have been selected for exercise.”
According to the Health Bulletin, a video conference was held on Friday under the chairmanship of the Health Secretary of Delhi for the exercise for Covid vaccination at three selected locations. These three places are in one Shahdara district, one in South West district and one in Central district.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a high-level meeting with Principal Health Secretaries and other health officials of all states and union territories on Thursday and reviewed the preparations for the Covid-19 vaccination at the session sites.
The plan to start vaccination will be in accordance with the campaign guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on 20 December.
In the exercise (dry run) starting today, the medical officer in charge for each of the three session sites will identify 25 beneficiaries (health workers) who will be vaccinated.
The ministry said that states and union territories have also been asked to ensure that the details of these beneficiaries are uploaded on the ‘Co-Win’ app. These beneficiaries will also be available for exercise at the session venues.
States and UTs have also been asked to ensure that physical verification of all proposed sites is done in terms of adequate space, logistic management, internet connectivity, power, security, etc.
They have also been asked to ensure that the ‘three-room structure’ at the respective sites has separate entry and exit gates. There should be enough space outside to display awareness related information and display all IEC material at these sites.
All states and union territories have been asked to identify vaccination teams and ensure adherence to all standard operating procedures and protocols at identified sites, including training them in every way.
The ministry said that the exercise would also enable the administration of states and union territories in the management, storage and logistics of vaccine supplies, including refrigeration chain management.
Approximately 96,000 vaccine personnel have been trained for this purpose. A total of 2,360 participants have been trained in national trainer training, while in 719 districts, more than 57,000 participants have been given district level training.
State helpline 104 will also be used (in addition to 1075) for any information related to vaccine / software.
The ministry said that the important objective of the exercise would also be to manage any possible adverse events after vaccination. In this exercise, monitoring will also be done at the block and district level and the state workforce will review the feedback and share it with the Union Health Ministry.
The first phase was exercise on 28–29 December in two districts each of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Punjab.
The ministry said that no major issues came up during this period and all states expressed confidence in the campaign guidelines and information technology platform for implementation of the program on a large scale.