Self-Registration Option Allowed for Senior Citizens for Vaccination

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Even as the centre extended by one more month till March 31 the standard operating guidelines for various services under the pandemic regulations, the union health ministry on Friday announced options for advance self-registration, on-site registration and facilitated cohort registration for potential beneficiaries of the second round of COVID vaccinations, starting on March 1.

The second round of vaccination will cover those over 60 years of age and 45+ with comorbidities.

Giving details of the simplified process of registration through three routes, the Ministry said the beneficiaries will be able to self-register in advance by downloading the Co-Win 2.0 portal and through other IT applications including Arogya Setu. This will show the government and private hospitals serving as COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) with date and time of the available schedules. The beneficiary would be able to choose the CVC of his/her choice and book an appointment for vaccination.

On-site registration will allow those who cannot self-register in advance to walk into the identified CVCs and get themselves registered on-site and then vaccinated.

The Ministry added that under the facilitated cohort registration, the State/UT Government will take proactive lead.

“Specific date(s) for COVID vaccination will be decided where target groups of potential beneficiaries will be vaccinated. The State/UT health authorities will ensure that the target groups are actively mobilised and brought to the vaccination centres,” the Ministry’s release said.

It added that under all the three routes, all beneficiaries would be captured on Co-WIN 2.0 platform and would be issued digital QR code based provisional (on receiving the first dose) and final (on receiving second dose) certificates.

“These can be downloaded from the link shown in the SMS [which] the beneficiary shall receive after the vaccination. Print out of these certificates can also be taken from the Vaccination Centres,” the Ministry said.

COVID vaccination will be free of charge at the government vaccination centres and the beneficiary will have to show a photo ID document for proof of age (preferably Aadhar card or EPIC card) and certificate of co-morbidity (if required). Those taking the COVID vaccine at any designated/empanelled private health facility will have to pay a pre-fixed charge.

The Ministry has directed States/UTs to keep a vaccination scale-up plan ready both within the government and private facilities and also the number of vaccine doses administered.

It added that all beneficiaries, regardless of the mode of access, must be advised to carry any one of the photo ID document including — 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 co-morbidity for citizens in age group of 45 years to 59 years (signed by a registered medical practitioner) and employment certificate/ Official Identity Card — (either but with photo and date of birth) for health care and frontline workers.

Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan along with R.S. Sharma, chairman of Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration (Co-WIN) and member National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19 (NEGVAC), chaired a high-level meeting on Friday with Health Secretaries and senior officials of States and UTs on the vaccination of age-appropriate groups through a video conference.

“The fundamental shift in this phase is that citizens in the identified age groups, as also those healthcare workers and frontline who have been missed out or left out of the present phase of vaccination, can select vaccination centres of their choice. Also private sector hospitals will be involved as COVID vaccination centres to harness their potential to expand the vaccination capacities,” said the Ministry.

It added that States/UTs have been asked to ensure that the 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 equipment for storing the vaccine vials, own team of vaccinators and staff and adequate facility for management of any adverse event after immunisation cases.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an order to extend the COVID-19 “guidelines for surveillance, containment and caution” till March 31. It asked the States to expedite the vaccination programme to break the chain of transmission.

“While there has been a substantial decline in the active and new COVID-19 cases, there is need to maintain surveillance, containment and caution so as to fully overcome the pandemic. States/ Union Territories have also been advised to speed up the vaccination of the target population so as to break the chain of transmission and overcome the pandemic,” the MHA said in a statement.

It asked the States to demarcate the containment zones carefully and ensure that prescribed containment measures are strictly followed within these zones.

Maharashtra, meanwhile, recorded more than 8,000 fresh Covid-19 cases for the third consecutive day on Friday, the highest in the country. With 8,333 new cases, the number of total cases in the state stood at 2,138,154. Out of these fresh cases, Mumbai reported 1,035 Covid-19 infections on Friday. Though the number of fresh infections reported on Friday recorded a slight dip from Thursday’s numbers, the overall Covid-19 situation remains severe in the state.

On Thursday, 8,702 new Covid-19 cases were reported all across the state and Mumbai city alone witnessed 1,145 cases.

A total of 48 deaths have been reported in the state, including three from Mumbai.

The slum-dominated Dharavi area in Mumbai recorded 16 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest daily rise since October, a senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The caseload in the densely populated area, known as Asia’s largest slum, went up to 4,066. Of these, 3,699 patients have already recovered while there are 51 active cases.

Since the second week of February, the state is reporting an uptick in the number of daily infections, with mutant strains being reported from districts like Amravati. Restrictions have been imposed in the districts while surveillance has been strengthened in Mumbai. Districts including Satara, Nagpur, Pune, Jalna, Latur have imposed restrictions. Amravati is under a week-long lockdown and a 10-day lockdown till February 28 is going on in Yavatmal.

Other districts of Maharashtra have imposed travel restriction from the Vidarbha region in an attempt to contain the spike. Schools, colleges, temples have been shut in many areas. Political, cultural gatherings have been banned in the entire state from February 22.

(Manas Dasgupta)