Indian Medical Association in an official statement on Monday has urged the government to make the Co-WIN portal more people-friendly. The IMA also requested the Centre to provide COVID-19 vaccination free of cost to healthcare workers and people of the nation. The Union Health Ministry had developed Co-WIN to monitor real-time COVID-19 vaccine delivery.
"We request the Government of India to make the online vaccination portal more people-friendly. We also request to provide the Covid-19 vaccination free of cost to the HCWs & people of the country," read the IMA's statement.
The association congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi who took the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier on Monday. "We congratulate our Prime Minister Honorable Shri. Narendra Modi who has taken the first shot of Covid-19 vaccine. We are proud of the leader of our country," read the statement.
IMA emphasised the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine, stating, "Vaccination is an effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases. Vaccination is a gift of modern medicine to the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination continues to be critically important.".
"At Indian Medical Association, our National President Dr J A Jayalal, past World Medical Association President Dr. Ketan Desai, Hon. Secretary General Dr Jayesh Lele along with all leaders have proved the safety & necessity of vaccination to people of the country," added the IMA.
The IMA stated that it stands with the PM and the government for the mass COVID-19 vaccination drive. The second phase of the mass COVID-19 vaccination drive began on March 1. In the second phase people above 60 years and above 45 years with comorbidities will be administered the vaccine. Registrations on the Co-WIN 2.0 platform began at 9:00 am on Monday.