Vaccination dry run: 125 beneficiaries each in 4 states register for shots

The dry run was being carried out in Krishna district in AP, in Rajkot and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab, Sonitpur and Nalbari districts in Assam

As the country eagerly awaits an expected coronavirus vaccination drive in January, at least 125 intended beneficiaries each in four states who had registered on the Co-WIN App were on Monday sent SMSes informing them about the time and place of their 'Covid-19 vaccination' under a mock-drill to administer the shots at designated centres.

The two-day end-to-end dry run was being carried out in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, in Rajkot and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) in Punjab and Sonitpur and Nalbari districts in Assam.

It is being conducted to test the laid out mechanisms for Covid-19 vaccination in the states and provide insights into any gaps to be addressed before the commencement of the actual vaccination drive, according to officials.

They said said the exercise tested the functionality of Co-WIN, which is an online platform for monitoring the delivery of Covid-19 vaccine, deployment of team members, checking cold storage, transportation arrangements and other arrangements while following all necessary protocols.

Krishna district Collector A Md Imtiyaz, who inaugurated the dry run at the urban primary health centre at Prakash Nagar in Vijayawada, said "the (dummy) vaccine was transported from the central storage facility to cold chain points at various places".

The dry run was being carried out in five locations with 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers) for each session.