Vaccinating a large group of people is not easy, but the largest state of the country – Uttar Pradesh – is preparing well for this task. With more than 200 million people residing in this northern state, having conducted numerous vaccination campaigns in the past, preparing the health system to vaccinate its people is not new to the state government. However, to ensure smooth running of the much anticipated COVID vaccination introduction involving adult populations when the disease is still spreading, two dry runs were conducted in all 75 districts: one on January 5, 2020 in 853 sites and the other on January 11, 2020 at 3081 sites. Among these sites, half were in urban and the other half in rural areas in first dry run. The purpose of these dry runs was to identify any bottlenecks in implementation and address them before the actual vaccine roll-out.
On January 5, 2020 Chief Minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath, along with Medical Education Minister Mr Suresh Khanna, visited RML Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow to review preparations at the session sites, including AEFI management. Later in second dry run, CM visited Civil Hospital (SPMH), Lucknow for a reality check on the situation. Health Minister Mr J.P. Singh also oversaw the dry run activities in Barabanki and Basti district respectively.
They went through the GOI protocols on vaccination and appreciated the support extended by WHO in the preparation and roll-out of the vaccine. WHO has been closely working with the state government to provide technical and monitoring support to all the session sites, with 844 teams deployed to assist the government officials at block, district, and state level. WHO monitored 844 sites in first dry run and assisted government officials in 2621 sites at block and district level.
Across Uttar Pradesh, the dry run witnessed active participation of state/district administrative officials and nodal officers. After the dry runs, the CM conducted a video conference with state administrative and health officials, including development partners, from all 75 districts to seek feedback on the dry run especially for any gaps to be addressed before the roll out of the vaccination on 16 January 2021. The experiences of the dry run and the active participation at all levels of state administration in monitoring and supporting the activity would ensure minimal deviations from the standards expected from a vaccination run of this scale.
