Earlier in January, the health department officials of Rajasthan conducted a trial of the COVID-19 vaccine at 19 centres in 7 districts of the state, as per the Centre’s immunization protocol. Again on Friday, the second mock drill of the vaccination was successfully conducted at 102 vaccination centres in all the districts of Rajasthan and it included 2,550 health workers. In the first round of the dry run, 424 corona warriors were roped in at 18 centres, across 7 districts of the state on January 2.
Friday’s mock test was conducted by creating 3 categories of vaccine centres, in each district
During the course of the exercise, necessary information regarding the possible adverse effects that the beneficiaries could witness after the administration of the vaccination was also provided. As per the State Health Minister, during both of the dry runs, vaccination management was done in accordance to all the issued precautions and scientific protocols.
He further added that Friday’s mock test was conducted by creating 3 categories of vaccine centres, in each district and an overall of 102 vaccine centres were set up in the medical colleges and district hospitals as part of the first category. CHCs, PHCs and urban dispensaries were a part of the second category while private medical institutions were under the third segment. A target of 25 vaccinations was fixed for each centre.
Additionally, the State Health Secretary visited the vaccine centres in Jaipur and other districts to personally inspect the mock drills. Other senior health officials under the leadership of the District Collectors, monitored the procedures and gave necessary directions.
The process of immunization, explained
Explaining the entire process, the State Health Minister mentioned that first of all, a model vaccination room and monitoring room were set up for the recipients, following which the rehearsal of administering the vaccine was conducted. The vaccination officers verified the identity documents and then allowed the entry of the beneficiary.
The person on the receiving end of the inoculation was then sent to the vaccination room after being certified on the COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) software. The next step involved the vaccinator completing the demo vaccination process, sealing it with an entry on the CoWIN portal about administering the vaccine to the beneficiary. At the event of the real vaccination drive, the recipient will also be kept at the monitoring room for 30 minutes under the observation of the vaccination officer.
Throughout the course of the mock test, the time taken to vaccinate an individual and making an entry on the CoWIN software was assessed and the process of running the software was also checked.
Anaphylaxis kit to be arranged at the vaccination sites
The final vaccination sites will have separate entry and exit points and while here, the recipients need to maintain physical distancing. Moreover, the health department has also made arrangements for an anaphylaxis kit, which would be used in emergency situations in case there is a side-effect following the immunization.
