Chennai: A dry run to check the best way to vaccinate people against Covid-19 ahead of the actual vaccination drive was conducted in Tamilnadu today and sources said it was successful. Health secretary J Radhakrishnan was present at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in the city today morning to kick off the exercise.
The dry run was carried out at 17 places in the State. According to sources, twenty five health workers received dummy vaccines at each spot.
It is meant to test the mechanisms and reveal possible gaps in the system ahead of the actual vaccination drive.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said, “An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation.”
Replicating every step of the real vaccination drive to check preparedness, dry run was conducted at 17 locations in Chennai, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris and Tiruvallur. The locations include Rajiv Gandhi Government GH in Chennai, ESI Hospital in Coimbatore and Ooty Medical College Hospital besides primary health centres in corporation and rural areas. The first phase of vaccination drive aims to vaccinate more than five lakh health workers.
In anticipation of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that is just one step away from being approved by India’s top drug regulator, select hospitals across the country conducted an inoculation dry run Saturday. The nationwide rehearsal was to understand the best way to administer the vaccine and plug loopholes in logistics and training. India, which has more than one crore three lakh cases of the infection, will conduct the largest vaccination drive in the world.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan reviewed the process at GTB Hospital in New Delhi Saturday. Speaking to reporters afterward, he said the government would not compromise on any protocol in approving a vaccine, and appealed to people not to be misguided by rumours regarding the safety and efficacy of shots.