New Delhi, Jan 7 (IANS): As the country prepares for the COVID-19 vaccine roll out, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will be visiting Tamil Nadu on Friday.

During his visit, Vardhan will review the preparedness and oversee the dry run operations at the scheduled sites.

A massive countrywide mock drill to prepare for the COVID-19 vaccination is being conducted on Friday in 736 districts across 33 States and UTs.

The Union Health Minister will visit the site at Government General Hospital, Chennai followed by the one at Government Omandurar Hospital, Chennai.

In the afternoon, he will visit the private vaccination centre in Apollo Hospital, Chennai after a brief visit to the General Medical Store Depot (GMSD) in Periamedu.

This is one of the four national vaccine storage facilities, the other three being at Mumbai, Kolkata and Karnal.

Thereafter, Harsh Vardhan will visit the vaccination centre at Chengalpattu. He will be visiting the Hindustan Bio-Tech Limited Campus at Chengalpattu after concluding his supervision at these sites.

The objective of the mock drill for COVID-19 vaccination is to simulate the actual vaccine administration event.

The entire planning of the vaccination drive including beneficiary registration, microplanning and vaccination at the planned sites, will be tested under the supervision of the District Collectors and District Magistrates.

The dry run will also familiarize the State, District, Block and Hospital level officers with all aspects of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out.

This activity will help administrators in strengthening the linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms, identification of any residual challenges prior to the actual implementation and to instil confidence in the programme managers at all levels for a smooth vaccination drive.