State to undertake immunisation drive for over 2.28 crore people from today
Kolkata: The State government is set to undertake a massive immunisation programme from Monday as more than 2.28 crore people —mostly above the age of 60 and also those comorbid patients belonging to the age bracket of 45-59—will get Covid vaccination in phases. About 15 government and 10 private hospitals will start vaccination process for the common people from Monday.
State government officials held a virtual meeting with the representatives of the private hospitals on Sunday evening where it has been decided that the CoWIN 2.0 app will go live from 12 noon on 1st March and registrations will be started for people between the age of 45-59 with co-morbidities and people above the age of 60.
While 15 government hospitals in Kolkata will start the community vaccination drive from Monday, around 10 private hospitals, including AMRI Hospitals Dhakuria and Mukundapur, Apollo Gleneagles, Belle Vue, Medica Hospital, Peerless Hospital, Ruby Hospital, EEDF, GD Hospital and Diabetic Institute and Woodlands have been asked to vaccinate 50 people on Monday which will include 30 beneficiaries above the age of 60 and 20 people with comorbidities. The drive is expected to start from around 12:30 pm across the private hospitals.
According to the state Health department the number of total beneficiaries under community vaccination may go up as the survey is still continuing in various parts of the state particularly in the remote areas. As per the available figure there are currently around 1.30 crore people who are above 60 and are therefore eligible to get a vaccine. The number of patients with comorbidities is expected to rise in the future. Health officials have said that people would be given vaccines in the government hospitals free of cost while in case of private hospitals the recipients will have to pay Rs 250 as capped by the Centre. The Union Health ministry has already sent the guidelines to the various state governments in this regard.
Sources in the health department said that the State has around 36 lakh doses in its hands which will be applied on 18 lakh people. The state government is keen on ensuring that each person receives two doses of vaccine. Out of the total 36 lakh doses that is available with the Health department around 29 lakh doses are of Covishield while the remaining 7 lakh doses are of Covaxine. A senior health official on Sunday said that vaccinations would be started at all the district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and state general hospitals from Monday. Though, the registration of recipients may take some time. Private hospitals may not be able to start vaccination from Monday as some formalities are still pending.
Sources said that the CoWIN 2.0 mobile app will go live from Monday noon where anybody can log on and register with their Aadhaar card and other details. If anybody books a slot within 3 pm of a day, they can get vaccinated the next day. The app will have the option of selecting vaccination centres as per location. Government has asked all Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) to share latitude and longitude with them which will be used to geotag these hospitals.
The people will have to come with the ID used to register on Cowin 2.0, can opt from Covishield and Covaxine. Those aged between 45-59 having comorbid issues have to receive a certificate from a doctor to get a jab.
