Walk-in registration for jabs opens for all adults
Facility restricted to government Covid vaccination centres for 18-44 age group, says health ministry
NEW DELHI: The Union government on Monday allowed states to open on-site registration and appointments for adults below the age of 45 seeking coronavirus vaccines, after repeated calls to abandon the digital-only system that critics said was leaving out people who did not have access to smartphones or the internet.
The feature at present is being enabled only for government vaccination centres, the health ministry said, and it will depend on the state government to decide whether they want to allow on-site registrations. Vaccines for the younger adult age group became available from May 1 but the demand soon surpassed supplies, exhausting stops and halting the drive in several states.
“…based on the various representations given by the states and inputs received by Union health ministry for the vaccination of 18-44 year age group, the Union government has now decided to provide facility of on-site registration/facilitated cohort registration on Co-WIN digital platform for 18-44 years age group,” the statement said.
The statement noted that “even though Co-WIN provides for features such as registration
of up to 4 beneficiaries with a mobile number, facilitated registration and appointments through applications, such as AarogyaSetu and Umang and through the Common Service Centres etc, people requiring cohort’s facility and those without access to internet or smart phones or mobile phones may still have limited access for vaccination”.
The move was also meant to reduce vaccine wastage, the government said, suggesting states to open up vaccination centres to walk-in recipients if they have doses left over from appointment no-shows.
The government opened vaccinations for the under-45 adult age group on May 1 but people need to first register online and book a slot before they can be served at vaccination centres.
The demand has been such that several states have run out of the limited supplies of vaccines they received for the 18-44 age group, including Delhi where deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday that the 400 vaccination centres it had for this group have been shut from this week due to a lack of doses.
In addition to Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are among states that halted vaccinations for these age groups. Many of these have floated tenders to procure doses directly from foreign developers but have not been able to draw much interest.
The Centre has also directed states to issue clear instructions to all district immunization officers, to strictly adhere to decision regarding the extent and manner of using the on-site registration and appointment feature for this age group.
“State/UT must decide on opening of on-site registrations/ facilitated cohorts’ registration and appointments for 18-44 years age group based on the local context just as an additional measure to minimize vaccine wastage and for facilitating vaccination of eligible beneficiaries in the age group 18-44 years. Also, abundant caution should be exercised and extreme due care should be taken while opening up of on-site registration… in order to avoid overcrowding at vaccination centres,” the statement further read.