Governor Inspects Covid-19 Dry Run

The dry run mandated by the Centre for the administration of Covid-19 vaccines was successfully carried out in both the Telugu-speaking states today.

While the exercise was carried out in six health centres across two districts in Telangana, it was conducted in as many as 39 places in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The purpose of the run, apart from finding and resolving any administrative issues in the process, is to ensure that the vaccinated people do not develop any health problems.

In Telangana, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, accompanied by her husband Dr P Soundararajan, a renowned doctor himself, visited the dry run centre at the Tilak Nagar Public Health Centre (PHC), and interacted with the medical and health staff, and the beneficiaries who were given the vaccine.

The Governor inspected the cold chain storage system and the vaccination rooms, and personally observed the immunisation process at the centre.

Speaking on the occasion, Soundararajan appealed to the people not to be vaccine-hesitant, and said, "The Covid-19 vaccine is safe. People all over the world are taking it, and there has not been even a single fatality due to it so far. I am concerned by the fact that some surveys indicated that 40% of the health care workers have shown vaccine-hesitancy. I assure you that the vaccine is safe."

In this regard, she also appealed to the media to create awareness about the safety of the vaccination to help motivate the people of the state to willingly get vaccinated.

Praising the Telangana health officials for successfully conducting the dry run, the Governor stated that the process would greatly help to examine the effectiveness of the vaccination system before the actual rollout of the vaccine later.

She then said that the vaccination process would be implemented in four stages in Telangana, and around 80 lakh people would be vaccinated.

"Initially, 5 lakh people most vulnerable to the virus will be immunised. The healthcare workers, frontline warriors, and people with pre-existing health conditions will be vaccinated in the initial drive. The targeted beneficiaries also include three lakh doctors, nurses, ward boys and technicians in the public and private sectors," she said.

She also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the massive initiative taken by him to bolster the development of the vaccine in the country, and the scientists of the country for the tremendous work done by them in developing and producing the Covid-19 vaccine.

While at the PHC, Soundararajan also personally handed over New Year greeting cards to the medical and healthcare staff, and to the beneficiaries.

Telangana Public Health Director G Srinivas Rao said that Governor's visit and appreciation was a big motivation and morale booster for both the healthcare workers and the beneficiaries.