New Delhi, January 6: The second dry run for COVID-19 vaccine administration will be conducted in all districts across India on January 8. The first dry run for the coronavirus vaccination was conducted at 285 session sites spread across 125 districts on January 2. The second dry run will be conducted as India gears up to launch the world's largest immunisation drive on January 13. New Coronavirus Strain Cases in India Surge to 73, Says Health Ministry.

"The objective of the dry run for COVID-19 vaccine introduction is to assess operational feasibility in the use of Co-WIN application in field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation," India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had said ahead of the first dry run. 4 Types of Coronavirus Strain Circulating Around the World Since Pandemic Began, Says WHO.

In the first phase of the mega vaccination drive, the government plans to administer the vaccine to 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), last week, approved Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for restricted emergency use in India. India has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases after the United States.

The country recorded 18,087 fresh cases of coronavirus infections and 264 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the country's overall tally to 1,03,74,932, while the death toll touched 1,50,114, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday. The country has also detected 73 cases of the new and more infectious strain of the coronavirus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2021 06:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).