India will hold a trial on Saturday before the actual vaccination campaign against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in an end-to-end exercise in which all steps will be tested in the states and territories of the Union. The activity will take place in all state capitals at at least three session sites and some states will also include districts that are remote. Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the drill in major cities in addition to their capitals. “The trial will also equip the state administration and the UT in the management of the supply, storage and logistics of vaccines, including the management of the cold chain,” said the Union Ministry of Health.
The government has already conducted a two-day pilot Covid-19 vaccination campaign in eight districts of four states from December 28 to 29. Meanwhile, India’s Covid-19 count has risen to 10,286,709 and 148,994 people have succumbed to the viral disease, according to the Union Ministry of Health.
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This is everything you need to know about the essay:
1. The Ministry of Health of the Union has said that the objective of the trial for the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine is to “evaluate the operational feasibility in the use of the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) application in an environment of field, to test the links between planning and implementation and identify challenges and guide the way forward before actual implementation ”. This is also expected to give confidence to program managers at various levels, he said.
2. During the test, for each of the three session sites, the attending physician in question will identify 25 beneficiaries of the test, who will be health workers. States / UTs have been asked to ensure that the data for these beneficiaries is uploaded to Co-WIN.
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3. These beneficiaries will also be available on the session site for the drill. Union states and territories will also set up facilities and create users in the CoWIN app, including uploading healthcare worker beneficiary data.
4. Union states and territories have been asked to ensure physical verification of all proposed sites to determine the suitability of space, logistical arrangements, Internet connectivity, electricity, security, etc. for demonstration.
5. The model sites will have separate entrances and exits in the configuration of three rooms – a waiting room, a vaccination room, and an observation room – with adequate space outside for awareness-raising activities.
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6. The sites will display all IEC material, ensure that all standard operating procedures and protocols are practiced at the identified sites in an ideal environment together with vaccination teams to be identified and trained in all aspects.
7. A team of four people, one to verify the documents, one to verify the beneficiary registration, one to monitor the person and one to control the crowd, will be present.
8. The teams will have a vaccine carrier or a cold box that will be used to transport the vaccines at the temperature at which they should be stored from the points of the cold chain to the vaccination sites.
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9. An important focus of the trial will be on the management of any possible adverse event post-immunization (AEFI). Attention will also focus on compliance with and managing infection control practices at the session site to prevent disease transmission.
10. The drill will include simultaneous monitoring and review at the block and district level, and comment preparation. The State Working Group will review the comments and share them with the Union’s health ministry.
11. The States and territories of the Union have also been called upon to address the communication challenges by relying on all stakeholders and increasing the engagement of the ‘Jan Bhagidari’ community through innovative strategies.
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