NEW DELHI, Apr 22: Registration for vaccination against COVID-19 for all those aged above 18 will begin on the CoWIN platform and Aarogya Setu app from April 28 and no walk-in registrations will be allowed, an official spokesman of the Thursday.
All appointments have to be made in advance, as there is no walk-in facility for people between the age group of 18 and 44, the spokesman said.
However, they will get appointments only after hospitals publish their schedules on CoWin, the nodal site for coordinating the vaccine drive.
On Monday, the Centre announced that everyone above 18 years old will be eligible for a vaccine from May 1.
Estimates for India’s adult population range from 800 to 900 million and discounting those above 45 years and the 130 million who’ve got at least one dose — at least 500-600 million are expected to register for doses from Saturday. The spokesman said the Centre was “upgrading infrastructure” to accommodate these numbers.
Unlike the ongoing vaccination drive, where the Centre is the sole buyer and supplier of vaccines to States, the May rollout will also include doses that have been independently purchased by States from vaccine manufacturers. It could also include shots of Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine authorised by the Central Drug Regulator.
However, both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India are fulfilling existing commitments to the Centre and have said they are unable to substantially ramp up supply before July. It’s also unclear when the first doses of Sputnik V will be available.
Under the existing arrangement, beneficiaries can register for a vaccination slot and opt for a centre nearest to them. Currently vaccinations at private facilities are charged at ₹250. Those at government centres will continue to get the vaccine for free, the Centre said on Thursday. Going ahead too, the Centre will continue to be the buyer of half the approved doses of Covaxin and Covishield.
SII has said it will charge States who enter into agreements for them ₹400 for a dose and private hospitals at ₹600 a dose. Currently it has sold, or is fulfilling orders, worth 210 million doses of vaccine at ₹150-180 a dose. The prices to be quoted by Covaxin and Sputnik V are as yet unknown.
Earlier in the day before the official announcement, reports quoting the chief of the National Health Authority, RS Sharma, said the registration would be opened within two days.
For registration, the government said, the following procedure would have to be followed:
> Like the first and the second phase, registration would be done through the Cowin.gov.in website and Aarogya Setu mobile app.
> Co-Win mobile application available for download in the play store is only for administrators, not for beneficiaries.
> Unlike phase 1 and phase 2, where walk-ins were allowed, in this phase, there will no walk-in registration. All appointments have to be booked in advance through the Co-Win website or the Aarogya Setu app. A person between the age group of 18 and 44 will not be allowed to walk in a vaccination facility and get registered.
> But as the vaccination drive for phase one and phase two will go on simultaneously, senior citizens will have still have the walk-in facility unless specified otherwise.
> In the previous phases, one person was allowed to book an appointment for another 4 people. But as mentioned by MyGovIndia, only self-registration is allowed in phase 3.
> All appointments have to be made in advance, as there is no walk-in facility.
> Once you register on or after April 28, the appointments will be slotted starting from May 1 onwards.
(Manas Dasgupta)