97 participate in Covid vaccination dry run

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 8

The Covid-19 vaccine dry run was held in four health facilities in the district on Friday. As many as 97 beneficiaries (health workers) participated in it. It was held at SGL Charitable Hospital, the Civil Hospital, the Primary Health Centre, Jamsher, and the Urban Health Centre, Basti Gujan.

As many as 12,420 health workers have been registered in the district for the first phase of the Covid vaccination programme. Fortyseven teams have been formed in the district (23 for urban areas) which would administer vaccine in 47 centres in the district. Cold chain points have been set up in CHCs and Sub Divisional Hospitals with a storage capacity of over 12 lakh vaccines in Jalandhar.

A three-room set-up each was established in the four health facilities where the dry run took place. From a waiting area, the beneficiary was routed to a vaccination room and subsequently to an observation room. The identification of the health worker was verified by a security guard (and matched with available list) followed by ID proof fed to the computer, the visitor sent to the waiting area and then to the vaccination room. The vaccination protocol was duly followed to apprise patients and staff of the final protocol they would have to follow. The AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) kits have also been placed in all 47 centres in preparation for a reaction or adverse affects of the vaccine if any.

In all, 159 private hospitals in Jalandhar have sent lists of staff which has to be vaccinated. Officials said the staff did not have the name of the vaccine or the date of administering yet.

District Immunisation Officer, Jalandhar, Dr Rakesh Chopra said, “All beneficiaries routed to the vaccination room would be sent only after verifying their identity and whether their names are on the list of beneficiaries. A beneficiary, administered a Covid vaccine, is told the name of the vaccine, the future date of the dose and asked to contact the nodal officer if they face any problem. The entire set up has been readied for the Covid vaccination.” “It was a rehearsal. The name of the vaccine, which is to be administered, and the date of the first vaccine have not been announced yet,” added Dr Chopra.

Hoshiarpur: As per the instructions of the Government of India, a dry run was carried out at three locations — the District Civil Hospital, the Community Health Centre, Bhunga, and IVY Hospital — here on Friday.

Inspecting the dry run at the Civil Hospital Vaccination Centre, Deputy Commissioner Apneet Riyait said the purpose was to review the preparations to be made before the arrival of the vaccine. During the dry run, the mock vaccine was given to the vaccine centre from the main store.

Besides, a list of 25 registered beneficiaries, matching of beneficiary names as per the list on the portal by vaccination authorities, a 30-minute exercise for name verification, vaccination, counselling and monitoring was done. The line-up process and awareness content performance were also monitored during the dry run.