India is set to hold a two-day dry run on December 28 and 29 in four states ahead of the proposed vaccination drive, which is likely to be kicked off in January. The states have put into place additional measures including testing of people arriving from abroad in the wake of a new strain of the virus detected in the UK.
To assess the readiness of the mechanism laid out for the COVID-19 vaccination drive, a dry run has been planned in four states Punjab, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
Track this LIVE blog for all the latest updates on coronavirus pandemic
The exercise will include necessary data entry in Co-WIN, an online platform for monitoring of vaccine delivery, testing receipt and allocation, deployment of team members, mock drill of session sites with test beneficiaries, the Union Health Ministry had said.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that detailed training modules had been developed for different categories of vaccine handlers and administrators including medical officers, vaccinators, alternate vaccinators, cold chain handlers, supervisors, data managers, ASHA coordinators and others involved in the implementation process at various levels.
Read: Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?
The training includes operational aspects such as organising vaccination sessions, use of the Co-WIN IT platform, cold chain preparedness, managing adverse events, communication, biomedical waste management, and infection prevention protocols.
All four states will report their observations recorded during the program to the centre. The government is planning to vaccinate 25-30 crore people by July 2021. These people will healthcare and frontline workers and other high-risk groups.
Read: COVID-19 vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca may get Centre’s approval in next few days
Meanwhile, India is likely to grant emergency use authorisation to the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 in the next few days as the updated data submitted by the Serum Institute of India (SII) is 'satisfactory'.
India's COVID-19 tally of cases climbed to 1,01,87,850 on December 27. A total of 1,47,622 deaths have been reported so far in the country.
Click here for Moneycontrol's full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak