Ready, steady, jab: 93 COVID vaccine centres across Telangana to open at 9 am in second phase

HYDERABAD: Nearly 93 centres across Telangana will witness the soft launch of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout programme for the general public on Monday. This second phase of the immunisation drive is targeted for the priority groups above the age of 60 years and between 45 and 59 years who are suffering from comorbidities. 

Each of these 93 centres will have a capacity of 200 beneficiaries and the registrations will be done on the CoWIN app only. About 18,000 people are eligible to get vaccinated on day one and can select their slots to receive the jab.

“Forty-six private and 45 government hospitals will be involved in the launch. To avoid overcrowding and ensure the drive is conducted in an orderly manner, we will allow only prior registrations via CoWIN. Walk-in registrations will be allowed only from next week,” Dr GS Rao, Director of Public Health, Telangana, said.

While the 93 centres are only for the programme’s soft launch, the vaccination drive will be held at all 1,200 centres from next week.

“We want the system to be fully in place before expanding it to all centres. Telangana has done very well in South India when it comes to vaccinating frontline and healthcare workers. We intend to do the same for the general public,” Dr Rao said.

Senior health officials have asked the beneficiaries to keep a doctor’s certificate ready, which confirms their comorbidities. Dr Ramesh Reddy,

Director of Medical Education, said: “There is a specific document released by Centre with a list of 20 comorbidities, which has been circulated to all health officials via the Indian Medical Association and Nursing Association and Registered Medical Practitioner groups. One can get this from them and get a declaration of their comorbidity. One can also print it and get it signed duly.”