Senior citizens can now register on-site and get COVID-19 vaccine

As India gears up to vaccinate people above 60 years of age and those over 45 years with comorbidities against COVID19 from March 1 the Union Health Ministry on Friday said the facility of onsite registrations will be available so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres get themselves registered and get inoculatedThe beneficiaries will be able to selfregister in advance by downloading the CoWIN 20 portal and through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu etc which will list the government and private hospitals serving as COVID19 vaccination centres CVCs with the date and time of the available schedulesThe beneficiary would be able to choose the CVC of hisher choice and book an appointment for immunization the ministry saidVaccination will be free of charge at the government vaccination centres Those taking the COVID vaccine at any designatedempanelled private health facility will have to pay a prefixed charge it saidThe Centre shared this information with Health Secretaries and MDs National Health Mission of states and UTs during a highlevel meeting which was chaired by Rajesh Bhushan Union Health Secretary along with Dr R S Sharma Chairperson of the Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration CoWIN and member National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID19 NEGVAC on the vaccination of ageappropriate groups through a video conferenceThe nationwide COVID19 vaccination drive was launched on January 16 This is now to be exponentially expanded to the vulnerable agegroups all citizens above 60 years and those within the age bracket of 45 to 59 years with specified comorbidities from March 1The states and UTs were explained the basic features of version 20 of the digital platform COWIN which is a populationscale software with capacity of processing several thousands of entries the ministry saidThe new phase of vaccination of ageappropriate groups will expand the COVID vaccination in the country manifold With a citizenndashcentric approach the fundamental shift in this phase is that citizens in the identified age groups as also those healthcare and frontline workers who have been missed out or left out of the present phase of vaccination can select vaccination centres of their choice it saidSecondly the private sector hospitals will be involved as COVID19 vaccination centres to harness their potential to expand the vaccination capacities it statedIt was pointed out that all CVCs must be governmentrun health facilities such as SHCs PHCs CHCs Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres SubDivision Hospitals District Hospitals and Medical College Hospitals or private hospitals empanelled under Central Government Health Scheme CGHS Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana ABPM JAY and similar State Health Insurance SchemesStates and UTs were asked to ensure that private health facilities mandatorily must have adequate space for the vaccination process as detailed in the comprehensive SOPs issued by the Ministry basic cold chain equipments their own team of vaccinators and staff and adequate facility for management of any AEFI cases for using them as CVCsAll beneficiaries regardless of the mode of access will have to carry any one of the following photo ID document Aadhar Card Electoral Photo Identity Card EPIC Photo ID card specified at the time of registration in case of online registration if not Aadhar or EPIC certificate of comorbidity for citizens in age group of 45 years to 59 years signed by a registered medical practitioner employment certificate Official Identity Card ndash either but with photo and date of birth for HCWs and FLWsStates and UTs were explained the simplified process of registration which shall be through three routes Advance SelfRegistration Onsite Registration and Facilitated Cohort RegistrationUnder the first route beneficiaries will be able to self register in advance by downloading the CoWIN 20 portal and through other IT Applications such as Arogya Setu etcThis will show the government and private hospitals serving as CVCs with date and time of the available schedules The beneficiary would be able to choose the CVC of hisher choice and book an appointment for vaccinationThe facility of onsite registration allows those who cannot self register in advance to walk into the identified CVCs and get themselves registered onsite and then vaccinated the ministry said in a statementUnder the facilitated Cohort Registration mechanism the state and UT government will take proactive lead the ministry said in the statementSpecific dates for COVID vaccination will be decided where target groups of potential beneficiates will be vaccinated State and health authorities will ensure that the target groups are actively mobilised and brought to the vaccination centres ASHAs ANMs Panchayati Raj representatives and Womens Self Help Groups SHGs will be utilized for mobilizing the target groupsUnder all the above three routes all beneficiaries would be captured on CoWIN 20 platform and would be issued digital QR Code based provisional on receiving the first does and final on receiving second dose certificatesThese can be downloaded from the link shown in the SMS the beneficiary shall receive after the vaccination the ministry informedPrint outs of these certificates can also be taken from the vaccination centresThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever