The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination for those aged above 60 and those above 45 with specified comorbidities to begin from Monday will initially be taken up in all taluk and district hospitals apart from 79 identified private hospitals in Karnataka. Vaccination will be free of cost only at government vaccination centres.

All private facilities empanelled under CGHS, Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka health scheme and other State health insurance schemes will be allowed to operate as COVID-19 vaccination centres.

Hospitals mapped

State Health Commissioner K.V. Trilok Chandra told The Hindu on Saturday that a list of 983 hospitals including 582 private empanelled hospitals in Karnataka have been identified and mapped with the nearest cold chain points to ensure seamless flow of vaccines. “However, in the initial phase, all taluk and district hospitals and two identified private hospitals from each district apart from 19 private health facilities from BBMP will implement the vaccination from March 1,” he said.

In the initial few days, vaccination will be done only for online registered beneficiaries in urban and private facilities and both on-site and online in rural areas. “The State will scale up the vaccination for other mode of registrations and ramp up the number of facilities. It will be done on four days every week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – in government facilities and all working days in private hospitals from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The number of vaccinations per day would be limited to 200 per session site and will be served on first come first serve basis. However, online registered beneficiaries would be allotted a specific time in a day,” he said.

The ongoing vaccination for healthcare and frontline workers will continue simultaneously along with the second phase, he said.

Those taking the vaccine at any empanelled private health facility will have to pay a pre-fixed charge subject to a ceiling of ₹250 per person per dose as stipulated by the Centre. Beneficiaries will receive a digital QR code-based certificate on getting inoculated, he said.

Ahead of the second phase, Health Minister K. Sudhakar on Saturday tweeted a list of 20 specified comorbidities for determination of eligibility of citizens in the age group of 45 years to 59 years. For people in this age group, a certificate of comorbidity signed by a registered medical practitioner is also required, he said.

Self-registration

In a series of tweets, the Health Minister said that the registration process was simplified. “While advance self-registration through Co-WIN 2.0 or Arogya Setu has been enabled, beneficiaries can choose a centre of their choice with date and time of the available schedule. On-site registration at the centre is also available,” he tweeted. All beneficiaries are advised to carry one of the following photo IDs: Aadhar, electoral photo identity card, photo ID card specified at the time of registration in case of online registration, employment certificate or official identity card with photo and date of birth.

Although COVID-19 experts had suggested that the State conduct a survey to identify and map beneficiaries for the second phase, Mr. Chandra said there was no need for this now as the Centre has allowed self-registration. “People can walk in to the centres, register on-site and get vaccinated,” he said.

Earlier, the Health Department had planned to go by the electoral rolls for elderly population and existing data on comorbid population in the State.