2nd phase vax drive begins in AP

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday commenced the third phase of Coronavirus vaccination, opening the opportunity to senior citizens above 60 and people with comorbidities above 45 years of age.

Interested people have been directed to register themselves on CoWIN portal. As many as 53 lakh eligible common people are expected to get inoculated in the third phase of vaccination.

Incidentally, the state received a total of 21.07 lakh vaccine doses by February 25, out of which 13.4 lakh doses have been shipped to the districts, leaving a balance of 7.6 lakh doses.

Nearly 2,172 medical facilities, 1,600 government and 500 private, are geared up to chip in for the third phase of vaccination. Krishna District Collector AM Imitiyaz said as many as 42,000 frontline workers have been vaccinated in the first two phases in the district.

"Second dose vaccination is also being administered for healthcare workers," said Imitiyaz.

He said that the eligible people registering on the portal can also do it for three more people along with them while people above 45 with comorbidities have to upload their medical certificates for comorbidities such as diabetes and blood pressure and others.

Vaccination in government hospitals is completely free while it has been priced at Rs 250 in network hospitals linked to the state health department.

Government general hospital, district hospital, area hospitals in Gudivada and Nuziveedu and some CHCs and PHCs in Krishna district are the 23 government hospitals offering vaccination.

Andhra hospital, Anu hospital, Capital hospital, Kamineni hospital and Sentini hospital are the five network hospitals in Vijayawada while Andhra hospital in Machilipatnam and Annapurna hospital in Gudivada are the other two.

According to Imitiyaz, once an individual takes his first dose of vaccination, he will automatically be eligible for the second dose after 28 days. "Definitely make use of this opportunity and take Coronavirus vaccine. All of us together will defeat Covid-19," added Imitiyaz.

However, reports emerged that vaccination could not be started at Vijayawada government hospital for senior citizens and those above 45 with comorbidities due to glitches in the Cowin app. Incidentally, up to 30 people were sent back on the first day of third phase vaccination.