Media Release
Udupi, Jan 8: As a part of the nationwide dry run (rehearsal) for COVID-19 vaccination, Dr TMA Pai Hospital, Udupi, also conducted this activity. The session started at 10 am and concluded at 12.30 pm on Friday, January 8. Over 25 randomly selected staff members were the COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries during this rehearsal. All the protocols as recommended by the district and state government teams were strictly adhered to.
The vaccine beneficiaries were given specific time slots. The first process was to check the registration and photo ID verification of the beneficiary, following which they were seated in a waiting room with appropriate facilities and educational displays. The second process was to verify and authenticate the beneficiaries in the Co-Win online portal of Govt of India and vaccinate the beneficiary. After getting vaccinated, they were observed in the post-vaccination room for a period of 30 minutes, after which they were sent home.
Dr Mohamed Riaz, senior resident, dept of medicine; Jayalaxmi and Mamatha, staff nurses; Devaki and Praveena, associates; Vasanth and Naveen security staff; Guru and Dhananjay, supervisors; Venecia executive operations; Deepak Prabhu, senior manager operations & marketing and other team members were actively involved in this dry run and rehearsal. Dr Prashanth Bhat and Dr Premananda from the department of health visited the hospital and appreciated the arrangements made.
The time taken for vaccinating each beneficiary was 6-8 minutes. Deepak Prabhu told that this entire exercise has helped them in understanding the system in a better way for this vaccination drive along with the manpower requirements. Overall, it was a very successful and well-organized vaccination drive at Dr TMA Pai Hospital, Udupi.
Dr Shashikiran Umakanth, medical superintendent and nodal officer for COVID-19 told that the rolling out of COVID-19 vaccine is a very good development. Vaccines are generally considered one of the safest medicines and most of the reactions, if any, are usually mild. People need not be unduly worried about receiving the vaccine when it is available. COVID-19 has taken a toll in our country and a successful vaccination drive will help in the resumption of normal life soon. This dry run has increased our confidence in the readiness of the government health system in rolling out the vaccine all over the country.
Dr TMA Pai Hospital, Udupi, was in the frontline of managing COVID-19 patients in Udupi district until October. The hospital has resumed normal functioning since then, as the number of COVID-19 patients has significantly reduced in the district, with most of the patients managed in government hospitals.