Andhra To Carry Out Covid Vaccine Dry Run Today, Give Report To Centre

A dry run of the coronavirus vaccination programme will be held in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the four states chosen by the Centre to carry out end-to-end dry run for COVID-19 vaccination on December 28.

The state government picked up Krishna district for the dry run, where it will be carried out in five locations, according to Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar.

"The dry run is aimed at testing the planned operations and the laid-out mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccination in the state. It will provide insights into any gaps or bottlenecks so that those could be addressed before the commencement of the actual drive," Mr Bhaskar said on the eve of the programme.

It would be used to test the preparedness for vaccinating pre-identified beneficiaries from specified groups supported by Co-WIN, an electronic application.

The Commissioner said the primary objective of the dry run was to check the operational feasibility of Co-WIN in the field, besides the planning, implementation and reporting mechanism.

Planning and preparations, including prerequisites for the vaccine introduction as per the Operational Guidelines, would also be assessed through the dry run.

The dry run would be carried out in five sessions at identified locations with 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers) for each session.

These test beneficiaries would be present at the session sites for necessary simulation, he added.

Mr Bhaskar said an AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunisation) committee formed as per the new guidelines and AEFI treatment centres were also identified.

"After the dry run, we will prepare a report for the State Task Force, which will review the feedback and guide us on further actions," he said.

The report will also be submitted to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Commissioner said.