Central Govt. advises States and UTs to register additional private Covid-19 Vaccination Centres on a mission mode

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<strong>Seized of the surge in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre has advised States and Union Territories to register additional private COVID Vaccination Centres in mission mode for the 3rd phase of vaccination which will commence from May 1.</strong></p>
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This was suggested at a high-level meeting held yesterday chaired by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Dr R S Sharma, Chairman, Empowered Group on Technology and Data Management to combat COVID-19. The meeting was held to guide the States and UTs on effective implementation of the 3rd phase of Vaccination.</p>
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The Centre has asked the States and UTs to engage with private hospitals, hospital of industrial establishment and industry Associations. The States were also advised to coordinate with designated appropriate Authority for applications and their processing and monitoring of pendency of registration.</p>
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Dr R.S. Sharma noted that the CoWIN platform had stabilized and was working at scale flawlessly. Registration for the third phase of vaccination against Covid-19 for those between 18 and 45 years will begin from April 28 on the cowin.gov.in app.</p>
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Sharma said the app was equipped to handle the complexities of the new phase of vaccination starting from 1st May. He went on to highlight the importance of uploading correct and timely data by States/UTs as any incorrect data would compromise the integrity of the entire system.  </p>
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Further, the States have been asked to monitor number of hospitals that have procured vaccines and have declared stocks and prices on COWIN. They have been asked to publicize about facility of only online registration’ for age groups 18 to 45 year.</p>
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Concerned about the crowd management, the States were also advised to coordinate with law-and-order authorities for ensuring effective management of people at COVID Vaccination Centres.</p>
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The Secretary also reviewed the augmentation plans of the States to strengthen the existing hospital and clinical treatment infrastructure for COVID patients. During the meeting, States were advised to review their existing hospital and other COVID treatment infrastructure in light of the daily new case and daily fatality.</p>
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Keeping in mind the importance of statistics while dealing with the pandemic, the States were also advised to maintain a real-time record for available beds and make it easily accessible to general public.</p>
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They have been asked to expand designated COVID-19 care facilities for isolation of asymptomatic and mild symptomatic patients. With a view to provide relief for the isolated patients at homes, States were asked to provide tele-medicine facilities for them.</p>
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Further, the States and UTs have been advised to ensure adequate availability of oxygen, ventilators and intensive care under trained doctors.</p>