Next vaccination phase to focus on those with co-morbidities, seniors

Health authorities will focus on immunising senior citizens and those above 45 with co-morbidities from the first week of March, according to a report.

Around 1 crore people fall under these two categories in Maharashtra, which has seen a resurgence of COVID over the past few weeks.

About 8 per cent of the state’s population is in the 60-plus category, and roughly 2 per cent is in the category of 45-60 with co-morbidities, The Indian Express quoted state Health Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas as saying.

The state has asked the Centre to allow 993 hospitals empanelled under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana to function as vaccination centres, the paper quoted Dr Vyas as saying. “We can scale up to 1,500-2,000 centres.”

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The Union health ministry has asked all states to prepare for the soft launch of the next phase of vaccination drive on March 1; and release a list of public and private hospitals selected as vaccination centres by March 4.

Those who turn 60 before or by January 1, 2022, will be considered for vaccination in the next phase. After March 4, senior citizens and those aged 45-60 having any of the 20 listed co-morbidities – including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer – can select slots and schedule their vaccination appointment at a particular centre.

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They will have to first register on the Co-WIN app and prove their identification number. If they have co-morbidities, they will also have to provide medical documents. Once a centre is selected, a recipient cannot select another centre.

“We will not be displaying which centre is administering which vaccine. People will have no choice in the matter,” the newspaper quoted an official as saying.

People can also walk into a vaccination camp with proof of age and medical certificate. This facility is for those who are not tech savvy. If there are no slots available, the walk-in recipient will be asked to return the next day.