Port Blair, Jan 3: The Dry Run for the CoWIN (Covid 19 vaccine) was conducted at Port Blair in School of Nursing and AYUSH Hospital, Port Blair. The dry run was a part of preparatory measure for the upcoming CoWIN vaccination against COVID 19 across the country. A total of 50 volunteers were included as beneficiaries in the dry run.

The Dry run started at 9.30 with registration of the beneficiaries followed by vaccination drive process and observation for 30 minutes thereafter. All the preparatory measure was observed and recorded.

For the first time the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) was used for the dry run; whereas, all the beneficiaries were registered online for the process and simultaneous report was generated online. The emergency tray and all essential medications used for any Adverse Effect Following Immunization (AEFI) were made available at the site and sufficient manpower was deputed which includes Verifier from Police Dept and two vaccinators at each site was arranged. The ambulance was parked standby at AYUSH to deal with any emergency if needed. The beneficiaries were briefed about the COVID19 vaccination in advance.

The same process will be observed for the actual CoWIN vaccine in near future once it is introduced by the Govt of India. The dry run was monitored by Dr V Candavelou, IAS, Commissioner cum Secretary (Health), A&N Admn and Shri Suneel Anchipakka, IAS, DC SAD along with Dr Omkar Singh, DHS.

The dry run was also conducted for the possible (AEFI) and was observed by one anesthetist and one Medical Specialist in each location.” The Dry run was coordinated by the Team from UNDP stationed at Port Blair.”