Noida, Ghaziabad to conduct dry run for Covid-19 vaccination on Tuesday

Ghaziabad/Noida: The district health departments of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar will conduct a dry run for Covid-19 vaccination on Tuesday. Both the districts

Ghaziabad/Noida: The district health departments of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar will conduct a dry run for Covid-19 vaccination on Tuesday. Both the districts have identified six sites each where the mock drills will be conducted to assess the preparedness of infrastructure and resources required for the inoculation drive.

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Ghaziabad officials said that they have changed the previously designated sites and now identified six sites -- IDST College at Modi Nagar, ITS Dental College at Muradnagar and community health centre at Loni as three sites in rural areas while three urban sites were designated for the dry run at Gayatri Hospital in Lohiya Nagar, Yashoda Hospital, Nehru Nagar, and Santosh Hospital near old bus stand. Earlier, district women hospital was included in the list of six sites, the officials said.

“The dry run will commence at 10am and end by 4pm on Tuesday. Each session room will be given a list of 25 beneficiaries and the procedures of vaccination will be taken up. The sites will have waiting area, vaccination room and an observation room, among others. Our teams will conduct the dry run and report to us,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer (CMO), Ghaziabad.

The GB Nagar district administration has identified six medical facilities where the health workers will be apprised by the trained officials about the methods of vaccination. These sites include the Super Specialty Paediatric Hospital and Post Graduate Teaching Institute (better known as Child PGI) in Noida, Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida, Sharda hospital and community health centres of Bisrakh, Dadri and Bhangel blocks.

GB Nagar CMO Dr Deepak Ohri said that the dry run will start with introductory session of two hours. “While in the first part of this session, the trained workers will give the detailed demonstration about the process of vaccination, the health workers will manifest the vaccination process through mock drill in the second part of this session. As many as 72 health workers, besides the in-charge of the hospitals and doctors from the health department, will be present during the dry run of the vaccination,” Ohri said.

For the purpose of vaccination, the Ghaziabad district has identified a list of 44 locations, including 30 private healthcare facilities, where actual vaccination will take place once the vaccine arrives. The district has identified about 21,800 healthcare workers who will be vaccinated under the first phase.

“During the dry run, our teams will carry vaccine boxes (with ice packs) to the vaccination facility. So, they will get attuned to the process when actual vaccine arrives. We have identified 29 cold-chain points and one vaccine store for storage of vaccine. During the dry run, we will be co-ordinating the activities from the Covid control and command centre and will identify gaps for improvement,” the Ghaziabad CMO said.

GB Nagar CMO Ohri further said that the police commissionerate has deployed adequate forces to ensure smooth and safe transport of the vaccines from cold chain points to vaccination sites during Covid inoculation drill. “The district has 13 cold storage points where vaccines can be stored, besides the main vaccine depot at my office. We have also identified 73 centres where the actual vaccination will take place. We have already prepared a list of 21,543 doctors and other medical staff, who will be inoculated,” he said.

Ohri further said that it is mandatory for the vaccination centres to have three separate rooms for the purpose. “While the first one will be the waiting room, the second and third rooms will be for vaccination and post-immunization assessment. Also, there will be separate entry and exit points at all the vaccination centres. We will keep the name, address and mobile number of every person, who’ll get the shots in the first phase,” he said.

Meanwhile, the UP additional chief secretary (health), Amit Mohan Prasad, said that all the divisional commissioners and district magistrates have been asked to ensure that syringes, vaccine, AEFI (adverse event following immunization) kit and other logistics reach the session sites in time. “The waiting and observation areas should have proper sitting arrangements. It has to be ensured that the vaccination team reaches the site 45 minutes in advance. The government has also appointed sector officers to ensure the dry run sessions on time,” he said.

It may be noted that the Drugs Controller General of India, which is the regulating body in the country, has approved Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

The Uttar Pradesh government has already issued guidelines for Covid-19 vaccination and identified three categories of people who would be vaccinated in first, second and third phases.

In his directions, UP’s additional chief secretary has stated that the health care workers (HCWs) which includes staff of government and private health care facilities, will get the vaccine in the first phase. The second phase is scheduled for frontline workers such as police personnel, home guards, jail staff and employees of Nagar Palikas, among others. The third category includes people aged over 50 years and also those aged below but having issues like diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure.