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Covid-19 vaccination: Stage set for dry run in UP’s 75 districts today
Police personnel and home guards will be part of the drill to ensure smooth transportation of vans from cold chain points to vaccination sites
The dry run for Covid-19 vaccination will be conducted in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, said additional chief secretary, medical health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad here on Monday.
“The dry run is to ensure the procedures for the actual vaccination are followed correctly by those responsible. Each district will have (at least) six sites, three in the rural pocket and three in urban localities,” Prasad said at a press conference.
In a dry run for vaccination, the entire process is followed except for actually administering the vaccine.
“Whenever the vaccine is made available, we will be able to vaccinate the pre-decided groups conveniently as the staff will learn the process in the dry run for the Covid-19 inoculation,” he explained.
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In Lucknow, the dry run will be conducted at 12 places which includes six that have already witnessed the dry run on January 2 – King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), community health centres at Mal and Malihabad, Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences and Sahara Hospital. The six other (new) places are Medanta Hospital, Lok Bandhu hospital, RSM Hospital, Era Medical College and community health centres in Indiranagar and Kakori.
Lucknow is likely to have 63 vaccination sites with over 150 vaccination booths for the actual inoculation.
Police personnel and home guards will be part of the drill and ensure smooth transportation of the vaccine vans from the cold chain points to vaccination sites.
“Each of the 12 vaccination sites (in Lucknow) will have two vaccination booths with separate six-member teams, including two vaccinators, two cops, a supervisor and an Asha (accredited social health activist) worker,” said Yogesh Raghuvanshi, spokesperson for the office of the Lucknow chief medical officer.
“Once the dry run goes smoothly, the actual vaccination will also be hassle-free as the practice session will make the staff confident,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.
The nodal officers have been asked to reach the vaccination sites with volunteers at least 45 minutes before the vaccination time starts at 10am.
An orientation session was conducted at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan on Monday where officials from police, administration, and health departments were called to discuss the dry run execution plan. Staff members involved in transportation, screening and vaccination were given training again by the experts. It was decided that logistics will be put in place and vans will carry vaccines to the venue early in the morning.
