Third phase of COVID-19 vaccination from today; 74 pvt hospitals roped in

Bengaluru : Hospitals in the State are ready to undertake the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination from Monday.

The nationwide vaccination drive will cover citizens above 60 years of age, and those within the age bracket of 45 to 59 years with specific co-morbidities.

The State health department said that with a citizen –centric approach, the fundamental shift in this phase is that citizens in the identified age groups, as also those healthcare workers and frontline warriors who missed out on the previous phase of vaccination, can select centres of their choice.

This time 74 private health centers are being involved in the vaccination across the State. The vaccination will be free at government hospitals. However, each citizen will be charged Rs 250 at private hospitals. Of this, Rs100 is towards service charge and Rs 150 will go to government of India's account.

In the initial phase all taluk, district and two identified private hospitals from each district, major hospitals in Bengaluru and 18 private health facilities in BBMP limits will undertake vaccination drive from Monday. In the initial few days, vaccination will be administered to those who have registered online in urban and private facilities and both on-site and online in rural areas.

The vaccination will be administered four days a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in government facilities and all working days in private hospitals from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Number of vaccinations per day will be limited to 200 per session. However, online registered beneficiaries would be allotted specific time slot.

All private hospitals empanelled under Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PM JAY) and Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka Schemes should have basic cold chain equipments for storing the vaccine vials, adequate space for the vaccination process own team of vaccinators and staff, adequate facility for the management of any AEFI cases.

All beneficiaries are advised to carry any one of the following photo ID documents - Aadhaar Card, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), photo ID card specified at the time of registration in case of online registration (other than Aadhaar or EPIC), certificate of co-morbidity for citizens in age group of 45 years to 59 years (signed by a registered medical practitioner), employment certificate/ Official Identity Card – (either but with photo and date of birth) for HCWs and FLWs.

There is a facility of on-site registration that allows those who cannot self-register in advance to walk into the identified COVID Vaccination Centres and get themselves registered on-site. They can also register on CO-Win 2.0 portal or Arogya Setu.