With more than 10 million infections in all, India will conduct a trial starting tomorrow for the largest and most ambitious mass immunization program in its history.
The mock vaccination exercise, which will continue for two days, will take place in two districts in each of these four states – Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Assam – on December 28 and 29.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in a statement, said detailed training modules had been developed for different categories of vaccine handlers and administrators, including medical officers, vaccinators, alternate vaccinators, cold chain handlers, supervisors, managers. data, ASHA coordinators and others. involved in the implementation process at various levels.
The Union Ministry of Health prepared a detailed checklist and shared it with the four states to guide them through the trial.
The trial will take place through four key steps, which will be closely monitored by the Center:
1) Each district will receive the mock vaccination for 100 recipients from the closest depot.
2) The temperature will be monitored throughout the vaccine journey from the warehouse to the vaccination site.
3) An SMS will be previously sent to the beneficiaries with the name of the vaccinator and the time of vaccination.
4) Each recipient should sit for 30 minutes after receiving the injection; if an adverse event occurs, its administration will be tracked through the central server.
The trial is intended to test India’s flagship vaccine delivery IT platform Co-Win at every stage, according to reports.
The Ministry of Health also said that another important focus area of the trial will be the management of possible adverse events after immunization.
Various coronavirus vaccines will be temperature sensitive, and once the vaccination program is implemented, the country’s cold chain system of 85,634 pieces of equipment at 28,947 cold chain points will be used to store the vaccine.
Although the country has not accepted any Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine, tested and manufactured in India by the Serum Institute, is the pioneer. Once the UK medicines regulator gives its approval to the vaccine, the Central Organization for Standard Medicines Control is likely to hold a meeting where details will be reviewed and approval given after evaluation.
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