New Delhi, Jan 2 (UNI) Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Saturday warned the citizens against falling prey to rumours and disinformation campaigns regarding the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine.
He rubbished the rumours being propagated on social media which are raising doubts in the mind of the public regarding the vaccine side-effects.
Dr Vardhan urged the media to exercise caution and to behave responsibly and check all facts before publishing or broadcasting any reports.
Ahead of the actual COVID-19 vaccination drive, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday conducted a nationwide mock drill at 285 session sites to test the end-to-end planned operations and the mechanism that has been set up to ensure smooth conduct of the COVID-19 vaccination that is expected to begin soon.
This dry run of the vaccination drive spread across 125 districts is covering all States/UTs having adequate representation of urban and rural districts along with hard-to-reach areas.
Dr Vardhan visited two mock vaccination sites in Delhi to review the dry run drill for administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
He first visited the GTB Hospital in Shahdara and later an Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) in Daryaganj.
Expressing his satisfaction at the preparations at the GTB Hospital, Dr Vardhan said, 'The entire exercise of the vaccination process is being systematically taken forward, including training of personnel for administering the vaccine. Detailed guidelines have been issued to multiple stakeholders after extensive deliberations, paying attention to each and every minute aspect.'
The Union Minister appreciated the tireless efforts being made by multiple stakeholders including the central and state government officials who have worked proactively in the last few months to ensure the success of this humongous operation.
Dr Vardhan said the digital platform, Co-WIN, repurposed from the e-VIN platform is the real game changer, and will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine.
This unique platform will assist the program managers across all levels through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification and for generating a digital certificate upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule.
More than 75 lakh beneficiaries have been registered on Co-WIN platform till date, he said.
Speaking on the preparedness for ensuring that the vaccine reaches even the remotest corner of the country, Dr Vardhan said that the country's cold chain infrastructure has been sufficiently upgraded to ensure last mile delivery. Adequate supplies of syringes and other logistics have also been provided for.
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