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| For 18+, On-Site Registration Allowed At Government Vaccine Centres | | | Agencies
New Delhi: People in the 18-44 age group - who are "without access to internet or smart phones" - can walk-in and get help to register themselves on the CoWIN digital platform, and get appointments to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the centre said in a notification issued Monday afternoon.
The centre also said it will allow on-site, or walk-in, registration and vaccination of "a few beneficiaries" in the 18-44 group at state-run Covid vaccination centres to "minimise wastage".
However, the centre left the decision to allow on-site CoWIN registration - for either reason - to individual state/UT governments. These decisions, the centre said, can be based on "local context".
Should state/UT governments decide to allow this, it can only be made available at government-run vaccination centres and not those run by private hospitals, the government added.
Similar facilities - walk-in registration and help signing up on CoWIN - are already available for people over 45. The centre said it had delayed this facility for the 18-44 group to avoid overcrowding at vaccination clinics and facilities.
The government's notification comes amid a tidal wave of criticism over its handling of the vaccination drive, which has seen states forced to shut inoculation centres over a lack of doses.
The government has also been criticised for allowing the export of vaccines. Posters questioning the Narendra Modi government came up around Delhi last week, inviting FIRs from the police.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at the centre after its announcement today, demanding to know: "Where are the vaccines?"
"A vaccination policy that excludes more than it includes is bound to fail. That's why we said making CoWin registration mandatory for ages 18-44 is a huge mistake. While the Modi Govt seems to have made amends, the issue now is, WHERE ARE THE VACCINES?," he tweeted.Experts believe vaccinating people in the 18-44 age group - the country's largest demographic - is key to being able to lift restrictions and try and re-start economic and commercial activity.Delhi, on Saturday, became the latest state to suspend, or reduce, vaccination of that group for that reason. Others include Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The lack of doses has also forced states to try and import vaccines directly from foreign manufacturers - a process that ran into a roadblock over the past 48 hours after US pharma giants Pfizer and Moderna told Delhi and Punjab that they will not deal with individual states.
Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have all initiated global tenders for import of vaccines, with varying degrees of success.
Vaccine availability has become a sore spot between some states and the central government as authorities battle to contain the devastating second Covid wave.
The centre says around two crore doses are still available with state/UTs. States, however, insist they have run out (or are running out) of doses, and have asked the centre to send more urgently.
According to data from the Union Health Ministry, around 19.6 crore doses have been administered so far.
India has so far cleared two vaccines - Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Covishield - which is made by the Serum Institute and was developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford University.
A third - Russia's Sputnik V - has been approved for emergency use but has yet to be rolled out. |
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