The dry run for Covid vaccine will be held in all states on Satuday as the Union Health Secretary chaired a high-level meeting with all states ad Union Territories to discuss the issue. This is the second dry run being conducted in the country — the first was held on December 28 and 29 in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat and had gone off without a hitch, the health ministry said.
Around 96,000 vaccinators have been trained for this, the health ministry said. Of these, 2,360 participants have been trained in National Training of Trainers and over 57,000 with district level training in 719 districts.
The dry run will be conducted at selective places in each state, sources said. It will be conducted in in at least three sites of each state capital. Some states will have to include districts situated in difficult terrain or have poor logistical support. Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capital.
The number of active cases continue to fall and are currently at 254,254, down 3,402 from Thursday, the ministry’s dashboard showed. Recoveries, meanwhile, continue to rise and are currently at 9,883,461, with 23,181 people, more than new patients, recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. However, in the same duration, the virus also claimed 256 more lives, taking India’s death toll to 148,994. Recoveries, active cases and deaths contribute 96.08%, 2.47% and 1.45% respectively of the country’s total Covid-19 cases.
The countrywide dry run comes amid anticipation of a launch of a vaccine in the New Year. On Thursday, the country’s Drugs Controller General Dr VG Somani said, “Probably we will have a new year with something in hand”.
The assurance came ahead of a crucial meeting of the expert panel on emergency use vaccine authorization set for Friday. The panel is examining applications from three firms – the Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Pfizer.
Of these, the ‘Covishield’ — developed by Oxford University and Pharma major AstraZeneca – that’s being manufactured by Serum Institute is seen as a frontrunner.
