COVID-19 surveillance guidelines to remain in force till Jan 31 as vaccine dry run begins

On a day when India recorded 20,021 fresh cases of COVID-19, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an order extending the implementation of surveillance guidelines till January 31, 2021. While the MHA has observed that there has been a continuous decline in new COVID cases, it has also emphasized the need to remain cautious in wake of the new Coronavirus variant that has emerged in the UK. The guidelines issued on November 25 this year shall continue to remain in effect till the end of January, the MHA order on Monday said. 

The Home Ministry has also stressed on the demarcation of containment zones and safety measures to be strictly followed in these zones. It has directed the State and Union Government's to ensure strict implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Health Ministry. 

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"Containment Zones continue to be demarcated carefully; prescribed containment measures strictly followed within these zones; COVID-appropriate behaviour promoted and strictly enforced, and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed in respect of various permitted activities followed scrupulously," the MHA directed.

India has recorded 20,021 new cases, 21,131 recoveries, and 279 deaths in the last 24 hours taking the country's total caseload to 1,02,07,871. Meanwhile, 97,82,669 people have recovered so far.

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COVID vaccine dry run begins 

With India gearing up to carry out the largest immunization drive in history, a mock run for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine commenced on Monday morning across 4 states - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Punjab, and Gujarat. The dry run, slated to happen on December 28 and 29, aims at identifying any possible adverse events and tests the management and preparedness of administering the COVID-19 vaccine without any hiccups. As three vaccine candidates remain in the final stage of clinical trials and have already sought emergency approval, India aims to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people in the first phase of vaccination and the plan has already been rolled out. 

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So far, the Centre has held over 2,360 training sessions, in which over 7,000 officials have been trained to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Centre has also rolled out a digitalized platform system named COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) to track enlisted beneficiaries for the vaccination on a real-time basis. Beneficiaries for the dry run have also been shortlisted through Co-WIN. Only pre-registered beneficiaries will be vaccinated in accordance with prioritisation of groups. The states have been directed to allocate the shots from one manufacturer to a district to avoid mixing of different COVID-19 vaccines in the field.