Nationwide dry run for COVID-19 vaccination to take place tomorrow; Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan reviews preparedness in Delhi
New Delhi, Jan 01, 2021: Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan today chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness at session sites across the country for COVID-19 vaccination trial run tomorrow. During the meeting, the senior officials of the Ministry apprised Dr Harsh Vardhan on various improvements that have been made to make tomorrow’s pan-India dry-run glitch free such as an increase in number of telephone operators to answer every possible query from the teams on ground conducting the dry-run.
The Minister also requested every official to ensure that the vaccination sites and officials incharge abide by the detailed checklist and SOP for vaccination. Dr Harsh Vardhan also stressed on the need for perfect calibration between the administrative and medical officers to make the event a primer that would later enable the mass implementation of vaccination drive.
While reviewing preparedness at COVID-19 vaccination sites for trial runs in Delhi, Dr Harsh Vardhan also spoke with Delhi Health Secretary Amit Singla as well as District Magistrates and District Immunization Officers of Shahdara, Central and South-West districts where the three sites of Delhi are located. These three sites are Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Shahdara, Urban Primary Health Centre, Daryaganj and Venkateshwar Hospital, Dwarka.
The Minister directed all the state officials to complete all the necessary arrangements. State officials informed the Minister that all the necessary arrangements have been made and hospitals are fully prepared. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, the purpose of the dry run is to identify the problems which can be rectified in the earlier stage. He expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made by the State officials.
Head of the COVID Task Force and NITI Aayog Member Dr. V. K. Paul said that the dry run of vaccination is important to ascertain the preparedness and operational functioning of COWIN under actual circumstances.
