Covid-19 vaccination second dry run : After successful dry runs for Covid-19 vaccination last month and earlier in January, the government is now conducting second dry run in 33 states and Union Territories (UTs) on Friday. The second phase of nationwide coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination dry run is considered to be the largest such drill undertaken so far. Also Read: Farmers Protest: Centre, Farmers To Hold Fresh Talks Today; Will The Stalemate End? Top Developments

A dry run was carried out in eight districts on December 28-29 and the first countrywide drill covering 74 districts was held on January 2.

What’s the aim of dry run?

The exercise is aimed to check the best way to vaccinate people against the novel Coronavirus and work upon the loopholes in logistics. The mock drill will assess its ability and readiness to administer shots to hundreds of millions of people by testing the preparedness for the vaccine rollout.

The lessons learnt from the earlier exercise will be made use to execute another dry run. Whatever was lacking earlier has been rectified, and will be tested in Friday’s dry run,” Union health minister Harsh Vardhan told states and UTs in a meeting on Thursday.

Key points about second dry run

1. The process began days after India’s drug regulator gave its clearance for two Covid-19 vaccines - Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

2. The dry run on Friday will be conducted across 737 districts of the country.

3. All participating districts across the country will identify three types of sessions for the mock drive: district hospital, medical college/private health facility, urban/rural outreach. After the identification process, beneficiary registration, micro-planning and vaccination will take place. Then, site organisers will have to hold review meetings after the session to gather feedback, Vardhan has said.

4. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh will not be participating in this dry run as they have already conducted it in all their districts.

5. State health ministers have been told to to submit their inputs after the dry run gets completed.

6. According to a statement issued by the Union health ministry, states and UTs are likely to receive the first supply of Covid-19 vaccines shortly. The mock drills being conducted are aimed at familiarizing district and block-level officials with the process of Covid-19 roll-out and vaccination.

7.  The Co-WIN digital platform, government’s Covid-19 vaccination online portal, will also be tested through these exercises.