COVID-19 vaccination dry run begins in TN, each centre can immunise 100 people a day

CHENNAI: Each vaccine centre for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu would have the capacity to immunise 100 people a day, Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said on Saturday.

He was addressing reporters here at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital after kick-starting the dry run for vaccination which is being simultaneously held at 17 centres across the state from Saturday.

RGGGH is one of the three dry-run sites in Chennai while the other districts which are part of this are Nilgris, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Tiruvallur.

Radhakrishnan said that the dry run would not feature the real vaccine and it was only to test the vaccination process to ensure the system works smoothly.

“The vaccination hall would have a separate entry and exit. One vaccinator will check the names and basic details, followed by another confirming the details in the CoWin app which has the list of beneficiaries,” he said.

Following the confirmation, the beneficiary would be taken to the vaccination room for the dry run. “Once it is over, he presses ‘yes’ on the app and instantly a message acknowledging the vaccination is sent to their mobile,” he added.

There is also an observation room for the patient to be monitored after the vaccination, with the presence of doctors and staff.

On Saturday, about 2000 staff were engaged in the dry run and two hours were allotted to cover 25 people at each centre.

The health secretary said not more than 100 people would be covered due to social distancing reasons, adding that there was a need to increase the size of the vaccination room.

He said that a total of six lakh health workers registered for the vaccination so far. He added that the World Health Organisation and UNICEF were observing the dry run and the details of it were communicated to the Centre.

Presently, there are 51 cold-storage facilities at the state level and 2,600 points in second-level areas. The state has also identified 46,200 vaccine storage points ready with walk-in coolers to store 2.5 crore vaccines.

Sources told Express that tenders were called to provide ten more pieces of cold storage equipment with a capacity of storing at minus 80 degrees.

Newsletter launched ahead of World Siddha Day

Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan launched a newsletter at the Arignar Anna Indian Medicine Campus ahead of the World Siddha Day which is to be observed on January 13.

He also inaugurated a facility to treat COVID patients using Siddha medicine at the hospital.