Shimla Feb 26
In a high level meeting, with all States/UTs of the country through video conferencing Dr. R. S. Sharma, Chairman of Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration (Co-WIN) and member, National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19 (NEGVAC) briefed Health Secretaries and MDs (NHM) of States about the process of registration for 60plus age group and 45 and above with co-morbidities, to be vaccinated in the second phase. Also in the meeting, the state/UTs were told about the process and minimum requirement to empanel a private facility for vaccination.
All beneficiaries, regardless of the mode of access, must be advised to carry any one of the photo ID document like Aadhar Card, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), The 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), Employment certificate/ Official Identity Card – (either but with photo and date of birth) for HCWs and FLWs.
Talking about registration process there shall be three ways. Advance Self-Registration where the beneficiaries will be able to self register in advance by downloading the CO-Win 2.0 portal and through other IT Applications such as Arogya Setu etc. 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.
Second is On-site Registration which allows those who cannot self register in advance to walk into the identified COVID Vaccination Centres and get themselves registered on-site and then vaccinated.
Third is facilitated Cohort Registration. Under this mechanism, the State/UT Government will take proactive lead. Specific date(s) for COVID vaccination will be decided where target groups of potential beneficiates will be vaccinated. The State/UT health authorities will ensure that that the target groups are actively mobilised and brought to the vaccination centres. ASHAs, ANMs, Panchayati Raj representatives and Women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) will be utilized for mobilizing the target groups.
They said that under all the above three routes, all beneficiaries would be captured on Co-WIN2.0 platform and would be issued digital QR Code based provisional (on receiving the first does) and final (on receiving second dose) certificates. These can be downloaded from the link shown in the SMS the beneficiary shall receive after the vaccination. Print out of these certificates can also be taken from the Vaccination Centres.
Vaccination will be free of charge at the Government Vaccination Centres. Those taking the COVID vaccine at any designated/empaneled private health facility will have to pay a pre-fixed charge.
With a citizen–centric approach, 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.
Which health facilities can be empaneled
The private health facilities to be allowed shall be Government health facilities such as SHCs, PHCs, CHCs, Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres, Sub-Division Hospitals, District Hospitals and Medical College Hospitals. Besides All Private Hospitals empaneled under Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PM JAY) and similar State Health Insurance Schemes, can be allowed.
However States/UTs have been asked to ensure that the private health facilities mandatorily must have the following for using them as COVID Vaccination Centres. They 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 must have adequate facility for management of any AEFI cases.
States and UTs have been asked to keep a vaccination scale-up plan ready which will include the granular weekly and fortnightly plans for scaling up the vaccination sites both within the government and private facilities and also the number of vaccine doses administered.
