COVID-19 vaccine dry run to continue in Assam till actual dose arrives: Official

GUWAHATI:

The dry run for the COVID-19 vaccine will continue regularly across Assam till actual vaccination takes place, a senior official said on Saturday.

Talking to PTI, National Health Mission (NHM) Mission Director Lakshmanan S said the Health Department does not want to leave any stone unturned to find out any lacuna in the system before administering the vaccine to the people of the state.

"Today, we are having the dry run at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, Sonapur Civil Hospital and Khanapara State Dispensary. This is going to be a continuous process and we will be having dry runs till the actual vaccine comes to us," he added.

The senior official said the NHM and the state Health Department in the ongoing exercise of dry runs across the state will attempt to cover as many health centres and hospitals as possible in coming days.

"Our objective is to prepare our staff, upgrade the state machinery and improve the vaccine delivery infrastructure. We don't want the people to have any issue when the actual vaccine will be administered. These dry runs will help find the shortcomings and plug those," Lakshmanan said.

Along with Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab, dry run for COVID-19 vaccine in Assam began on December 28 in Nalbari and Sonitpur districts. (PTI)