Mock drill for Coronavirus vaccination held at 3 locations in North 24-Pgns

Kolkata: A mock Covid vaccination drill was carried out at three different venues of Bengal on Saturday. This was a part of the nationwide dry run for vaccination programme.

According to health officials, the drill was performed smoothly in all the three camps. As many 25 health workers were involved in the mock drill at each venue and the health officials checked the preparedness of the camps. The health officials expressed their satisfaction over the way the mock drill was carried out. Two camps were set up at urban primary health centres at Duttabad and Madhyamgram each while the third camp was organised at the rural health centre at Amdanga. All the three venues fell under North 24-Parganas district.

All the health workers who attended the mock drills were asked to undergo the same steps which will be done on the day of final vaccination. All the 75 health workers who took part in the mock drills in the three camps were asked to register their names and then sat at the designated place. They followed the steps leading to the mock vaccination drill. The health officials also examined if there was enough space to accommodate the attendants. Those who would receive vaccines will sit at a particular place where their health checkups would be done and then they will proceed for the booth where vaccination would be conducted. There will be separate doors for entry and exit. After receiving the vaccine, one has to stay there at least for 30 minutes when the doctors will check their health condition. If someone falls ill, he/she may be taken to the nearby hospital depending on the situation. The health officials also examined the steps how the vaccine would be taken out of the cold chains and finally administered to the health workers.

One nodal officer has been appointed in each district to examine various aspects including logistics and the feasibility of the vaccination programmes in the area. The Union Health Ministry has already sent certain guidelines to the state government in this regard. It may be mentioned that earlier, the dry run for vaccination was conducted in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat on December 28 and 29.