Next phase of vaccine drive kick-starts today
NEW DELHI: The next leg of India’s vaccination drive begins on Monday, with states preparing to expand the programme that is crucial in the country’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic as the threat of a second wave of infections looms.
Members of the general public eligible for the next phase beginning March 1 can walk up to a vaccination centre to be registered for a dose, the Union government has said, outlining new guidelines and eligibility criteria.
People above the age of 60 and those older than 45 -- but with co-morbid conditions -can now approach government and private hospitals for shots
In designated private health centres, one dose of the vaccine can cost up to Rs 250, while inoculations in public hospitals will be free of charge, the health ministry announced on Saturday.
Two vaccines that are currently approved for use – Covishield and Covaxin – will be provided by the government to public and private sector hospitals.
In Delhi, the government has identified nearly 60 private hospitals that will be roped in for the immunisation drive, officials told news agency PTI.
“So far 59 private hospitals have been identified and the number will be increased as per requirement,” said the official associated with the Delhi government’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
Currently, priority group people including health workers and frontline workers are being administered the vaccine at 212 government and private health centres in Delhi.
States have been asked to provide login credentials to private centres on the updated Co-WIN platform. The Co-WIN platform is a digital platform being used to run the vaccination drive, and anyone who needs to get a dose must be registered on it.
The immunisation drive across the country was halted for Saturday and Sunday to move to the new platform that will allow self-registration of
recipients.
The Centre on Saturday released a template for the certificate that people with comorbidities will have to get from a registered medical practitioner to be eligible for the vaccination.
The doctor will have to sign the certificate that mentions the name of the recipient, their age, gender, address, and mobile number, along with the identification document presented by them. The form mentions 20 comorbid conditions in an attached check-list.
People between the ages of 45 and 59 who have any of the 20 comorbidities will qualify for a shot. The conditions include congenital heart disease that leads to pulmonary arterial hypertension, endstage kidney disease, or cancers such as lymphoma, leukaemia and myloma, decompensated liver cirrhosis (deterioration of liver function due to scarring), primary immune deficiency conditions, and sickle cell anaemia.
The nationwide vaccination drive was launched on January 16, with the government focusing on immunising 30 million health care and frontline workers in the first leg.
In the second phase, it plans to vaccinate about 270 million people who are over the age of 60 or are aged at least 45 years and have comorbid conditions.
Since the drive began last month, over 15 million doses have been administered across the country. But the coverage has been lower than expected, with only 48 people turning up on average for every 100 people expected for each session, according to government data.
All 10,000 hospitals empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be involved in the second phase of the vaccination drive to immunise an estimated 270 million people over the age of 60 years or those living with severe comorbidities.
Nearly 600 hospitals empanelled under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and other private hospitals empanelled in any state government insurance schemes will also be involved in the next phase of the vaccination drive.
The central government said on Sunday that six states -Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat – are recording a surge in daily cases, contributing over 86.37% of the daily infections reported in the country. High-level multi-disciplinary teams have already been deputed to these states along with West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, to ascertain the reasons for the surge and coordinate with the state health departments in Covid-19 control and containment measures.
The states have been advised to increase Covid-19 testing and develop strategies with respect to potential super spreading events.
10,000 HOSPITALS EMPANELLED UNDER AYUSHMAN BHARAT SCHEME WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE SECOND PHASE OF THE VACCINATION