The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that a dry run of the coronavirus vaccination drive will be conducted in four states including Assam on December 28 and 29 in order to assess the preparation for it.

In a release on Friday, the health ministry said that the dry run will be conducted in two districts each of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab. In Assam, the drive is likely to be conducted in Nalbari and Sonitpur districts.

The statement added that the activity will include end-to-end mobilisation of all the steps involved in the coronavirus vaccination process, except for the administering of the shot.

The ministry informed that the mock drill will include concurrent monitoring and review at block and district levels, and preparation of feedback to be shared with the state and the Centre.

It will also focus on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation.

Already, some 2,360 people belonging to different categories of vaccine handlers and administrators have been trained across the country.

Earlier, union health minister Harsh Vardhan said that vaccination is expected to begin “any week” of January. The government has already identified 30 crore people, including healthcare workers and elderly people, who will receive the shot in the first phase of inoculation, he had said.

The Covishield vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India, which has partnered with British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research, are the two potential candidates that have applied for authorisation.