CoWin portal to book appointments to be ready by April 24:  Health Min

As the vaccination against Covid-19 for those above 18 years will begin across the country from May 1, the registration to book appointments will begin from April 28. The applicants will have to submit documents as required before and there will be no walk-in registration for this age group of people, the Union Health Ministry clarified.

However, the portal for this group of beneficiaries will be made ready by April 24.

“It is clarified that #CoWin portal will be made ready for 18+ beneficiaries by 24th April. Registrations for 18+ citizens to book appointments (from 1st May) will begin on 28th April,” the Union Health Ministry said in a tweet.

As per the third phase vaccination policy, from May 1, the present system of private Covid-19 vaccination centres receiving doses from the Government and charging up to Rs 250 per dose will cease to exist and private hospitals will procure shots directly from vaccine manufacturers.

However, according to the Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy, Covid-19 vaccination will continue to be free for eligible population groups comprising healthcare workers, frontline workers and people above 45 years of age in Government vaccination centres, which receive doses from the Government.

Vaccine manufacturers would make an advance declaration of the price for 50 per cent supply that would be available to State Governments in the open market before May 1.

Based on this price, States, private hospitals, industrial establishments may procure vaccine doses from manufacturers.  Private hospitals would have to procure their supplies of Covid-19 vaccine exclusively from the 50 per cent supply earmarked for other than the Government channel. In other words, vaccines will not be sold in pharmacists or chemist shops in the open market.

The price charged for vaccination by private hospitals would be monitored, the Ministry said adding that the present dispensation where private Covid vaccination centres receive doses from the Government and can charge up to Rs 250 per dose will cease to exist.

All vaccination (through Government of India vaccination centres and other than the Government of India channel) will be part of the National Vaccination Programme, will follow all existing guidelines, will be captured on the CoWIN platform along with the stocks and price per vaccination applicable in all vaccination centres, will comply with Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) management and reporting, digital vaccination certificate and all other prescribed norms.

The Government has listed seven photo identity documents such as Aadhaar Card, Passport, Voter ID, among others, to be used for online registration on the CO-WIN app.

The division of vaccine supply, which would mean 50 per cent to the Government of India and 50 per cent to other than the Government of India channels would be applicable uniformly across for all vaccines manufactured in the country.

However, the fully ready to use imported vaccine would be allowed to be utilised entirely in the Government of India channel, it said.

The Centre from its share will allocate vaccines to States and Union Territories based on the criteria of performance (speed of administration, average consumption), extent of infections (number of active COVID-19 cases), the document stated.

Meanwhile, a national association of doctors and scientists has accused the Centre of lending the Covid -19 vaccination drive to “profiteering” by private companies rather than ensuring public financing of the programme.

In a statement, the Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum said that the Centre’s move is “bound to lend the vaccine prices to market manipulation for maximising private profits”.

“Rather than ensuring entirely public financing of vaccination, which makes far better epidemiological and economic sense, the Government has lent even the vaccination drive to profiteering by private companies by announcing that 50 per cent of all the doses shall now be routed through the open market.

“This is bound to lend the vaccine prices to all manner of market manipulation for maximising private profits. Promises of free vaccination, it appears, are good only for winning elections, and dumping the people thereafter,” it said.