Maharashtra Covid vaccine: Pre-registration for vaccine a must for 18-45 age group

Maharashtra has a week to make a series of arrangements to begin the next phase of vaccination on May 1, including training more vaccinators, registering more vaccination centres by roping in private hospitals, industrial associations and industrial establishments, and coordinating with law and order authorities for crowd control and procurement of vaccines.

The Union government on Saturday informed states that people in the age group of 18-45 will have to pre-register online for their vaccination slot.

Priority for vaccination will be given to those above 45 years of age as well as healthcare and frontline workers. They would also be able to avail the walk-in facility.

This high-risk group will get more slots for reservation in comparison to the 18-45 group. States were also asked to fast track vaccine procurement procedure. Officials said that hospitals will have to declare their stock and per dose pricing on CoWIN portal to make it easy for people to choose where they wish to register.

The Association of Hospitals, which has 72 hospitals registered in Mumbai, is meeting next week to discuss about placing a collective order for vaccines. Each hospital has been asked to draw up its requirement. The association is also planning to announce a uniform rate of per dose vaccination for all their hospitals.

Dr V Ravishankar, COO of Lilavati hospital, said the hospital wants to order 50,000 doses. “But when we and other hospitals checked with the Serum Institute of India, they said they still have no clear instructions from the central government on whether they can directly supply to hospitals or if they are supposed to route it through the state government,” he added.

The hospitals have reached out to state government for more clarity. In the state government-run JJ hospital, officials said they are planning to increase the number of vaccination booths.