Co-Win gets update, set for public rollout of Covid vaccine from March 1

The Union Health Ministry on Friday disclosed that those willing to take the Covid-19 vaccine would have to follow one of the three routes to get the jab as India gears up to kick start the world’s biggest vaccination drive with the aim of giving the shot to 27 crore Indians.

They can either register online in the upgraded Co-WIN 2.0 software or can walk into any of the 30,000 odd designated centres with requisite documents. There is also a third option in which the state governments can register bulk slots for inoculating a group of individuals and bring them to the vaccination centre.

The details of the updated software and broad contours of the roll-out plan were shared with the states in a meeting that was chaired by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and R S Sharma, chairman of the Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration and member, National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of Covid-19.

Earlier this week, the Union Cabinet approved rolling out the vaccine for the general population from March 1 at 10,000 government and 20,000 private hospitals. The Centre has set aside a corpus of Rs 35,000 crore for the vaccination drive.

While the vaccine would be offered free of cost at the government outlets, those availing the shots at private clinics will have to pay a government-determined price. The government, however, is yet to announce the price.

All citizens above 60 years are eligible for the vaccine while those between 45-59 years will have to produce a certificate from a registered doctor specifying the comorbidities that he/she may be having. The cut-off date for calculating the age is January 1, 2021.

The vaccination centers would be either government health clinics or hospitals or private set up empanelled under the CGHS, Ayushman Bharat and state health insurance schemes.

For the vaccination, the beneficiaries would have to produce an identification like Aadhar or voter ID card or any other government ID card. The healthcare and frontline workers who had missed out on their vaccination schedule can also get the shots if they produce a letter from their employer or an ID card as proof of their profession.

As the Co-WIN software is being upgraded, there would not be any vaccination on Saturday and Sunday. The upgraded software will also be rolled out on March 1.