Centre Prepares to Send First Supply of COVID Vaccine as States Brace For Second Phase of Dry Run Today

Earlier Union health minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting with health ministers of states and Union territories and asked the state authorities to be prepared and stop the misinformation campaigns.

New Delhi: The government on Thursday informed all states and union territories that the first supply of Covid-19 vaccine will be sent shortly. On Friday, the second phase of the nationwide vaccine dry run will be taken up by all states and UTs except Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh as they have already conducted dry run in all districts. Earlier Union health minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting with health ministers of states and Union territories and asked the state authorities to be prepared and stop the misinformation campaigns.

Here are the top developments:

On Friday, the second phase of the nationwide vaccine dry run will be taken up by all states and UTs except Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh as they have already conducted dry runs in all districts.

The Union health ministry has informed all states and union territories that the first supply of the Covid-19 vaccine will be dispatched shortly.

States like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will receive their supply of vaccines by suppliers.

Other 18 states and UTs Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Daman and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand, will receive their vaccines from their respective government medical store depots.

The Union Health Secretary has written to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal urging them to take steps to curb the spike in coronavirus cases. As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, these states have been reporting an upsurge in the number of daily new coronavirus cases in recent days.

Like the last round of dry run held on January 2, tomorrow too the districts will identify three types of session for the mock drive: district hospital, medical college/private health facility, urban/rural outreach.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday arrived in Chennai to personally review the dry run for administering COVID-19 vaccine in Tamil Nadu.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan earlier held a meeting with health ministers of states and Union territories and asked the authorities to be prepared and stop misinformation campaign.