Like in other states, the dry run to check the best way to vaccinate people against COVID-19 and plug loopholes in logistics and training has begun at three locations in West Bengal on Saturday.

Bidhan Nagar Municipality’s Duttabad Primary Healthcare Centre, Madhyamgram’s Primary Health Centre and Amdanga Gramin Hospital are three places among several others that have been chosen across 116 districts in the country for the dry run.

Under the supervision of West Bengal Health Department officials, 25 healthcare workers will be vaccinated at each locations. The process, which will see the largest novel coronavirus vaccination drive in the world, would be tested across the country for the first time through this activity.

The dry run will include various steps. The recipients of the vaccine will not be allowed to enter the health centres without masks. Subsequently, they’ll have to register their names and wait for their turn to take the injection.

After receiving the vaccine shot, each and every healthcare workers will be kept under observation for an hour to check if the vaccine was creating any adverse effect.

The activity is proposed to be conducted in all State Capitals in at least 3 session sites; some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support; Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their Capital.

This drive will also test the operational feasibility in the use of CoWIN application in a field environment. CoWIN is a digital platform to roll out and scale up the vaccination drive.

Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India-manufactured Covishield, developed by Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca, became the first vaccine to be cleared by government-appointed panel on Friday for wide-scale usage.

It will now be sent to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the final approval.

With the objective of gearing up for the roll-out of COVID19 vaccine across the country, the Central Government has asked all States and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine roll-out.