Hyderabad: The second phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive for priority age groups of above 60 years and individuals between 45 years and 59 years with comorbidities will be soft-launched across 102 vaccination centres in Telangana on Monday.
In the first few days, the public health wing will roll-out Covid-19 vaccines from 45 government hospitals and 57 private hospitals with each Covid Vaccination Centre (CVC) offering 200 vaccine slots on a single day.
For the next few days, the vaccine administration will not be available for on-site and walk-in registrations. Inoculation services will be available only for individuals who have registered themselves online through Co-WIN mobile application.
“In the second phase of vaccination to priority groups, we are targeting about 15 lakh individuals in the State. Since we are expanding the scope of the vaccine drive, there is a definite need to quickly identify and address glitches, if any, in the system, especially with the Co-WIN software. Therefore, for the next two to three days, only online registrations will be entertained,” said Director of Public Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao.
Overall, the health authorities aim to conduct Covid-19 vaccination drive at 1,200 healthcare facilities out of which 1,000 will be government hospitals and the rest of the 200 will comprise private healthcare facilities that are empaneled with Aarogyasri health insurance scheme. The health authorities have urged beneficiaries not to rush to government hospitals for vaccine and get caught-up in overcrowding.
“All of us must realise that Covid-19 vaccination for these two age-groups will continue for the next four to five months. This phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive is meant only for senior citizens and individuals with co-morbid conditions. Such individuals are most susceptible to Covid-19 and they already are struggling with different ailments. Hence, there is a need to avoid overcrowding at vaccination centres,” Dr. Rao said.
Authorities said that initially, in the urban centres of the State, the department will vaccinate individuals who have registered through the online process while in rural areas, the health wing will entertain on-site registrations and those who are mobilised by field level healthcare workers.
“Co-WIN mobile application is expected to go live very shortly and there could be glitches in the system. We need to understand these difficulties before expanding the operations,” senior health officials said.
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