As India prepares to roll out Covid-19 vaccine, Bengal will begin its second and most overarching phase of dry run of vaccines in different districts across Bengal on 8 January.

Earlier on 2 January, the first dry run of the vaccines started at three health centres at Salt Lake, Madhyamgram and Duttabad areas in North 24 Parganas.

Sources at Swasthya Bhaban said the second phase of the dry run of the vaccines would start on 8 January in several districts in north and south Bengal. Vaccines would be administered among around 25 health workers in each ‘dry run’ centre in these districts.

“With this dry run programme we will thoroughly verify the entire system like preservations and import of the vaccines and post-vaccination effects among people at the ‘dry-run’ centres. It’s kind of final rehearsal before the immunisation process starts across the country,” sources said.

Such dry runs in phases are salient to examine the efficacy of vaccines through feedbacks.

As many as 30 crore frontline workers are expected to get the Covid-19 vaccine dose in the first phase.

In Bengal, around seven lakh health workers in both government and private sectors have been listed so far for the mass-vaccination programme in the first phase.

The national health authorities have uploaded the data of frontline workers on the Central Government’s portal.

On Sunday, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) under the health ministry approved two vaccines for Covid-19 – Oxford’s Covishield, which is being developed by the Pube-based Serum Institute of India (SII), and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

The state governments across the country are waiting for instructions from the Central Government on when to start the vaccination drive.

The states have said that in the second phase those above 50 years of age and with co-morbidities would be given a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

Bengal is expecting minimum 70 lakh vaccines to kick off the programme first among frontline health workers, then police, army and other people attached with emergency services in the first phase, it’s learnt.