Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on January 7, 2021, interacted with the Health Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries of the States/UTs to review the preparedness for the nationwide Mock Drill on the COVID vaccination scheduled for January 8, 2021, through video conference here. The second nationwide mock drill on the Covid1-9 vaccination will be held at three session sites of 736 districts across 33 States/UTs.
The objective of the mock drill on COVID-19 vaccination is to simulate the actual vaccine administration event. The entire planning of the vaccination drive including beneficiary registration, microplanning and vaccination at the planned session site, will be tested under the leadership of District Collector/District Magistrate. The dry run will also familiarise the State, District, Block and Hospital level officers on all aspects of COVID-19 roll out.
This activity will help administrators in strengthening the linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms, identification of any residual challenges prior to the actual implementation and to provide confidence to the programme managers at all levels to carry out a smooth implementation of the vaccination drive, according to a PIB release.
Biplab Kumar Deb, Chief Minister (also holds Health portfolio), Tripura, Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, Dy. Chief Minister & Health Minister, Andhra Pradesh, Nitinbhai Patel, Dy. Chief Minister & Health Minister, Gujarat, Mangal Pandey, Health Minister, Bihar, Dr. MK Sharma, Health Minister, Sikkim, Dr C Vijaybaskar, Health Minister, Tamil Nadu, Etela Rajendra, Health Minister, Telangana, Rajesh Tope, Health Minister, Maharashtra, Langpoklakpam Jayantakumar Singh, Health Minister, Manipur, K K Shailaja Teacher, Health Minister, Kerala, Vishwajit Rane, Health Minister, Goa, Dr. Keshavareddy Sudhakar, Health Minister, Karnataka, T S Singh Deo, Health Minister, Chhattisgarh, Satyendra Kumar Jain, Health Minister, Delhi, Dr Prabhuram Choudhary, Public Health and Family Welfare Minister, Madhya Pradesh, Dr. Raghu Sharma, Medical & Health Minister, Rajasthan, Pratap Jena, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Law, Housing & Urban Development Minister, Odisha, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Health Minister of Punjab, and Pijush Hazarika, Minister of State (Health), Assam attended the meet.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan started by reminding everyone that the country has completed a year of successfully battling the pandemic with the first meeting of the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) of MoHFW on COVID being held on 8th of January, 2020. Restating his appreciation and unwavering support to the tireless work of the frontline workers who are working on the ground, he also mentioned how Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s dynamic, and unwavering leadership has ensured that India not only the highest recovery rate in the world but also a beacon of hope for other countries who are dependent on India’s export of N95 masks, PPE Kits for their own containment efforts. He credited this shift in India’s trajectory to the Atmanirbhar Yojana led by the Hon. Prime Minister.
Dr Vardhan appreciated the tireless efforts being made by the multiple stakeholders including the central and state government officials and the medical community who have worked proactively in the last few months to compose and disseminate detailed guidelines on the upcoming vaccination drive, train the vaccine administrators.
The Health Minister highlighted the unique digital platform, Co-WIN, repurposed from the e-VIN platform that will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine. This platform will assist the programme managers across all levels through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification, and for generating a digital certificate upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule. More than 78 lakh beneficiaries have been already registered on the platform, he stated.
The Minister said referred to India’s several successful immunisation drives with respect to Polio, Rubella and Measles and also narrated his personal experience from the early nineties of having galvanised efforts of millions of Indians which eventually led to the eradication of Polio from the country. “The rich experience of the country from the UIP and the anti-polio campaign are being used to strengthen the processes of COVID19 vaccination,” he stated.
Dr Vardhan reminded his state counterparts to also ensure that the National Immunisation Day (NID) scheduled for January 17, 2021, is also given due importance.