Districts in the central region began administering the COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 60 and those above the age of 45 with comorbidities in line with the instructions given by the Centre.
The public has the option to self-register on the CoWin portal or walk-in to the nearest government health facility or an empanelled private hospital in the district. While the government facility would provide the vaccination free of cost, private hospitals would charge ₹250.
Health officials expect a week to pass before the third phase of vaccination rollout picks up steam. However, the response was notable, compared to that of the frontline workers, senior staff at the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital said.
On Monday,120 doses of Covaxin and 160 doses of Covishield were administered at the Tiruchi GH of which 95% were the general public. “The government has to either ask the frontline workers to come later or ask them to register the same way as the public. We cannot conduct separate registration processes and it is causing chaos,” a senior doctor at the Tiruchi GH said.
Individuals can register on www.cowin.gov.in or directly visit the vaccination centre. One has to feed a mobile number or Aadhaar number or any other government identification number to register. Once registered, vaccination centres in the vicinity will be displayed. The individual may choose the date and location of the vaccination. While directly approaching a vaccination centre too, the individual must carry a photo ID card along with their Aadhaar card. “We have been instructed to reserve around 60% of the day's vaccination quota for walk-ins. We have sufficient supply and are ready to inoculate up to 1,000 people a day,” K. Vanitha, Dean, Tiruchi GH.
Collector S. Sivarasu inaugurated the vaccine rollout in Tiruchi, and Collector P. Uma Maheshwari in Pudukottai. Deputy Director of Health Services, Geetha Rani Ramesh inoculated her mother in Perambalur. The officials requested the public to utilise the facilities made available by the government to fight against the novel coronavirus.
