Covid-19: Vaccination dry run in four Maharashtra districts on Saturday

PUNE: The districts of Pune, Nandurbar, Jalna and Nagpur will carry out vaccination dry runs on Saturday. The process involves a dummy shot to 25 participants at select sites.
State health minister Rajesh Tope, who on Thursday announced the dry runs, said that the four districts were selected to check for preparedness levels.
“The state is ready with vaccinators and the facilities,” the minister said.
This week, the states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab held their own vaccination dry runs. The drills involve transport of an “approved shot” to a designated site, the arrival of “beneficiaries” and uploading of dosage details onto the CoWin app — all without an actual vaccine.
The Centre had asked states to pick their capitals for the vaccination dry runs, but state health officials said regions here were selected based on specific features that would help test the efficacy of the delivery system.
“Nandurbar was picked because of difficult terrain and spotty internet connectivity. Nagpur was selected because it has a mix of urban and rural areas," principal secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas said.
The states that conducted the dry runs have provided feedback that could fix loopholes in the process.
“We will be doing the same,” Dr Vyas said.
Health authorities said that the vaccination dry runs, besides being a field test for the CoWin app, will also test linkages between planning and implementation before the full inoculation drives are able to start.
“This will give our staff and trainers confidence,” a health official with knowledge of the vaccination plan in the state said.
At each of the vaccination sites, a medical officer will identify 25 test beneficiaries or health workers. Monitors will be present at all the sites to oversee the sessions.