Dry run of Covid-19 vaccine held under supervision of senior health officials in UP's Prayagraj

PRAYAGRAJ: The dry run of the much-anticipated Covid vaccine program was conducted under the supervision of senior health officials at six sites, including three each in urban and rural pockets across the Prayagraj district, here on Tuesday.
Senior health officials including chief medical officer (Prayagraj) Dr Prabhakar Rai and additional chief medical officer (NHM) Dr Satyendra Rai have conducted the dry run activity successfully to monitor the linkages between planning and implementation.
Nodal officer and deputy chief medical officer, Dr Rahul Singh told TOI, “Dry run of the Covid vaccine was conducted at three sites in the city including MLN Medical college, Colvin Hospital and Jeevan Jyoti Hospital and three sites in rural including CHC (Community Health Centre) Kotwa at Bani, CHC Jasra and CHC Pratappur to gear roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine in the Sangam city.”
He further added, “A team of seven members comprising medical and paramedical staff were on specific duties at each site for the dry run, and the beneficiaries, healthcare professionals whose names were already enrolled in the portal site were called for the dry run. Every site was divided into three specific rooms, including sitting area\waiting lounge, vaccination room and observation room. The health staff on duty was also briefed about the pre and post-vaccination duties during the dry run by the senior health officials.
Dr Singh, meanwhile, said, “At least 25 test beneficiaries ( health workers) were called in at each site for the dry run. Amidst the checking of all required documents and implementing social distancing norms, the beneficiary was guided to sanitize his\her their hands. The health staff on duty have further conducted the primary investigation of a beneficiary like blood pressure, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation. Then, the vaccination exercise was conducted.
The department has also compiled the data of test beneficiaries and was also uploaded on the Co-WIN test link by the district administrator. The beneficiaries were asked to come for a second booster dose after 28 days. Every beneficiary was also allotted a lucky draw coupon. After the vaccination, the beneficiary was kept in the isolation room for half an hour.
Dr Singh said that the primary objective of the dry run was to assess operational feasibility in the field environment and also to test linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanism. Interestingly, there were also anaphylaxis reactions rehearsal at the site to take up the further course of action if any beneficiary complains about the reaction after vaccination. In the first phase, around 26,000 priority category persons (medical and paramedical staff) in the city will be administered the Covid vaccine.