In a letter dated Friday, 23 April, the Centre wrote to all states and union territories issuing guidelines for the vaccination drive slated to begin on 1 May and clarified that vaccination for the people in the age group 18-44 years will be allowed only via registrations on the CoWIN or Aarogya Setu portals initially and that no walk-in vaccination facilities will be allowed for now.
Asking states and union territories to make sure that the vaccination drive takes place “seamlessly and conveniently,” the Centre on Sunday also said that it will continue to be mandatory for all COVID vaccination centres (CVC) to register on the CoWIN portal.
As per the guidelines:
- Registration of citizens in the 18-44 age group on CoWIN and Aarogya Setu shall begin from 28 April
- All vaccination slots at private CVCs will be offered only for online appointments from CoWIN or Aarogya Setu
- On-site registration or appointments will be allowed only if any doses are left in the last opened vial so as to minimise vaccine wastage
- The vaccine types and their prices will be displayed in the “Appointments” module on CoWIN so that the citizens can make an informed choice
- Private hospitals and establishments will be allowed to procure vaccine doses from manufacturers exclusively from the 50% supply earmarked for doses other than the ones for the government
- It will not be necessary for states to send any proposals for approval of new private vaccination centres
- Registration of CVCs on the portal will continue to be done by the District Immunisation Officer
- People left to be vaccinated from earlier phases and priority groups will continue to be vaccinated
India on Sunday marked 100 days since the COVID-19 vaccination drive began on 16 January.
As of 8 pm on Saturday, the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 140,802,794.
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