People between the age group of 18-44 can now walk-in and register themselves for covid-19 vaccinations.
Bangalore: The Centre has now allowed walk-in registration for vaccination for the 18-44 age group, but only at government-run centres.
This decision is expected to prevent vaccine wastage.
“In case of sessions exclusively organized with online slots, towards the end of the day, some doses may still be left unutilized in case the online appointee beneficiaries do not turn up on the day of vaccination due to any reason. In such cases, on-site registration of a few beneficiaries may be necessary to minimize the vaccine wastage,” stated the press release by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Maharashtra is the first state to start the process of walk-in registration, which did not yield the expected results.
Walk-In Vaccination kicks off, chokes Mumbai
Mumbai began a walk-in drive for the elderly starting Monday.
“People are coming in crowds for walk-in vaccination enquiries at private hospitals too,” said Dr. Anushree Prasad, a doctor at Apollo Hospital. “However, private hospitals and vaccination camps are only carrying out vaccinations for people who have pre-registered on the portal and scheduled an appointment,” she added. She further said the people should avoid crowding at the centers since it is against Covid-19 protocols and detrimental to people’s health.
According to Mr. Tanaji Kamble, Public Relations Officer at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the number of active vaccination centers has come down to 142 centers from the 239 listed Sunday night due to faster depletion of doses. Both Covaxin and Covishield vaccines are being administered to the specified tier groups.
The May 24 to May 26 walk-in vaccination drive is targeting vaccinations with both the first and second doses to senior citizens above the age of 60, and also eligible sector tier beneficiaries above the age of 45, health and frontline workers. While regular vaccination will resume for beneficiaries of all age groups after registration on the CoWin portal, from May 27 – May 29, the vaccinations centers will remain closed on Sunday, May 30, the BMC said in a statement on Sunday.
“People have started queuing up since six in the morning, while the center opens at 10 a.m.,” said Vighnesh Iyer, present at the center to get his grandmother vaccinated with the second dose. He added that there are only 100 doses of both Covishield and Covaxin per center, as notified by BMC. “However, some centers have more doses than others, and are accommodating extra vaccinations, thus the longer lines,” Iyer further added.
Dr. Vinayak Deshmukh, a doctor at a public vaccination center said, “We are vaccinating as many people as we can depending on the number of doses left in the center.” He added that the large crowds cannot be helped since many people are trying to get themselves vaccinated, both with the first or the second dose. “Private hospitals have continued to vaccinate seamlessly without delays or stoppage because they are registered and expensive. “The rush for paid vaccines will always be lesser than that for free ones,” he said.
With inputs from Anusha Ramesh
