The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from March 1 and registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal will open at 9 a.m. on Monday.

Also read: Online, offline options to register for COVID vaccine

Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination, anytime and anywhere, using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu.

Also read: Coronavirus | Plan to accelerate vaccine drive

Registration will open at 9 am on March 1 at www.cowin.gov.in, the ministry said.

All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 or more as on January 1, 2022 are eligible to register, in addition to all such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 to 59 years as on January 1, 2022, and have any of the specified 20 comorbidities.

This information was shared during the orientation workshop organised by the Union Health Ministry and the National Health Authority (NHA) for the 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, more than 600 hospitals empanelled under CGHS and other private hospitals empanelled under State Government’s Health Insurance Schemes, on Co-WIN 2.0.

The modalities of the new features integrated in the Co-WIN2.0 digital platform were explained to them. The private empanelled COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were also trained on various aspects of the process of vaccination and management of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) through video conference with the support of the National Health Authority (NHA).

“There will be only one live appointment for a beneficiary at any point of time for each dose. “Appointments for any date for a COVID Vaccination Center will be closed at 3 pm on that day for which the slots were opened,” the ministry said.

For example, for March 1 the slots will be open from 9 am till 3 pm and the appointments can be booked anytime before that, subject to availability. However, on March 1, an appointment can also be booked for any future date for which vaccination slots are available. A slot for the second dose will also be booked at the same COVID Vaccination Centre on 29th day of the date of appointment of the 1st dose. If a beneficiary cancels a first dose appointment, then appointment of both doses will be cancelled, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, there will be a facility of on-site registration so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres, get themselves registered and inoculated.

The eligible persons will be able to register at the Co-WIN 2.0 portal through their mobile number, through a step by step process. With one mobile number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. However, all those registered on one mobile number will have nothing in common except the mobile number, the ministry said.

The photo ID card number for each such beneficiary must be different. Either of the following photo identity documents can be used by citizens for availing of online registration — Aadhaar Card/Letter, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, driving license, PAN Card, NPR Smart Card or Pension Document with photograph.

A user guide for the citizen registration and appointment for vaccination has also been uploaded on the websites of the Union Ministry of Health and National Health Authority (NHA).

It was also explained that the central government shall procure all the vaccines and supply them free of cost to the states and U.T.s who in turn will disburse them further to the government and private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs), the ministry said.

It was re-iterated that all vaccines provided to beneficiaries at the government health facilities will be entirely free of cost, while private facilities cannot charge the beneficiary a sum above ₹250 per person per dose (₹150 for vaccines and ₹100 as operational charges).

Private hospitals will have to remit the cost of vaccine doses allotted to them in a designated account of National Health Authority (NHA). Payment gateway for the same is being enabled by the NHA on their website, the ministry said.

Government of India has supplied two COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, free of cost to the states and U.T.s to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) and they will also be able to cover the next priority group i.e. 60 years plus age group and the age group of 45 to 59 years suffering from pre-specified co-morbidities.

The states have been requested to operationalise the linkages between the CVCs (both government and private empanelled facilities) with the nearest cold chain points for ensuring smooth vaccine delivery to (CVCs).

The ministry specified 20 co-morbidities within the 45-59 years age group including heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, moderate or severe valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, CT/ MRI documented stroke, diabetes ( >10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment, end-stage kidney disease on haemodialysis, diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 2000 or currently on any cancer therapy for which one will have to submit a medical certificate.

The ministry has shared the format of the simplified one page certificate to be signed by any registered medical practitioner. The certificate can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the CVC, the ministry said.