On-site vaccine registration allowed for ages 18-44

This comes after state governments flagged concerns that people without access to smartphones or the internet may miss out on vaccination

Representative Image. Credit: AFP File Photo

The Centre has now enabled on-site registration and appointment for Covid-19 vaccination on the CoWin platform for the 18-44 years category at government-run vaccination centres.

However, this facility will not be available for private Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) that will continue to publish their vaccination schedules exclusively with slots for online appointments, the Health Ministry said.

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The on-site registration has been allowed after state governments flagged concerns that people without access to smartphones or the internet may miss out on vaccination.

The Health Ministry has also allowed fully reserved vaccination sessions to beneficiaries belonging to facilitated cohorts. It has asked state governments to ensure the presence of a sufficient number of beneficiaries for such a fully reserved vaccination session.

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The on-site registration is also expected to help utilise vaccine doses that may be left over if some online appointee beneficiaries fail to turn up for vaccination.

“In such cases, on-site registration of a few beneficiaries may be necessary to minimize vaccine wastage,” the ministry said.

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The Centre has left it to the state governments to use the on-site registration feature based on the local context just as an additional measure to minimize vaccine wastage.

The ministry also asked the state governments to exercise abundant caution while opening up on-site registration and avoid overcrowding at vaccination centres.