Harsh Vardhan reviews vaccine dry run preparedness across India

NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday interacted with the Health Ministers, Principal Secretaries, and Additional Chief Secretaries of the states and UTs to review the preparedness for the nationwide mock drill for coronavirus vaccination scheduled for Friday.

The second nationwide mock drill on the COVID19 vaccination will be held at three session sites of 736 districts across all 33 states and UTs.

Its objective is to simulate the actual vaccine administration event. The entire planning of the vaccination drive including beneficiary registration, microplanning and vaccination at the planned session site, will be tested under the leadership of District Collector/District Magistrate.

The dry run will also familiarise the state, district, block and hospital level officers on all aspects of the vaccine roll out. This activity will help administrators in strengthening the linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms, identification of any residual challenges prior to the actual implementation and to provide confidence to the programme managers at all levels to carry out a smooth implementation of the vaccination drive.

Seeking their personal indulgence, leadership and keen oversight for the national dry run, Dr Harsh Vardhan requested the Health Ministers to be vigilant against rumours and disinformation campaigns regarding the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Rubbishing the rumours being propagated on social media which are raising doubts in the mind of the public regarding the vaccine side effects, he said: "These miscreants might derail the whole exercise, set the clock back by years."

He urged the state health authorities to work with the multiple stakeholders and the youth to spread the right information and dispel rumours and mistruths being spread about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Harsh Vardhan started by reminding everyone that the country has completed a year of successfully battling the pandemic with the first meeting of the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) of MoHFW on COVID being held on January 8.

He appreciated the tireless efforts being made by the multiple stakeholders, including the Central and state government officials and the medical community who have worked proactively in the last few months to compose and disseminate detailed guidelines on the upcoming vaccination drive, train the vaccine administrators. He also expressed gratitude to the scientific community who have worked tirelessly to bring the country two vaccines which have recently received the Emergency Use Authorisation few days back.

The Health Minister highlighted the unique digital platform, Co-WIN, repurposed from the e-VIN platform that will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine. (IANS)

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