COVID-19 vaccine dry run to be conducted tomorrow in 4 districts of Maharashtra

As the country awaits a Coronavirus vaccine, the Maharashtra Health Department will conduct a dry run tomorrow in four districts of the state to ensure effective preparedness for its rollout.

The districts of Pune, Nagpur, Jalna, and Nandurbar have been selected for the dry run, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope informed after a meeting with senior health officials.

All four districts will have three vaccination centres, with each having 25 people for vaccination.

"Vaccines will not be administered to anyone but all operation preparedness will be tested by this dry run, including manpower management at the centres, protocol following, unhindered power and internet supply, etc," Tope said. He further informed that each centre will have a waiting room, a vaccination room, and an observation room.

Hospitals selected for the dry run tomorrow are - District Hospital Aundh, Primary Health Center, Mann and Municipal Jijamata Hospital, Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune; the Daga Hospital, Urban Primary Health Center, and Rural Hospital, Kamptee in Nagpur; Jalna District Hospital, Sub District Hospital Ambad, Primary Health Center, Badnapur's Shelgaon Village in Jalna, and Nandurbar District Hospital, Primary Health Center, Ashte and Navapur Sub District Hospital.

Earlier on Thursday, the central government asked all States and Union Territories to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine rollout.