18-45 vaccination begins in Chandigarh, all slots booked in 15 minutes

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 13

The vaccination booking slots in Chandigarh for beneficiaries of the new age group (18-45 years) opened on Thursday at 2:55 pm.

In just 15 minutes, the CoWIN portal showed all slots at five different vaccination sites booked.

On Wednesday, Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, Director, Health Services, UT, had said, “The slots for booking online appointment will be available from Thursday and would remain open for the next 15 days. Initially, about 1,000 slots will be visible per day. Depending on the response, the slots may be increased later.”

The Central Government has allotted 33,000 vaccines to the UT for persons in the age group of 18-45 years. The consignment of Covishield was received by the UT health authorities today. Eligible beneficiaries will be inoculated from May 14. Walk-in vaccination facility will not be available to the beneficiaries under this age group.

UT Adviser Manoj Parida said apart from the existing vaccination venues in the government sector, additional sites would be opened in a few schools, exclusively for this age group of beneficiaries.

The details of the venues will be intimated individually to the beneficiaries while booking the slot. They may check their time slots online.

Meanwhile, private hospitals are to get the vaccine directly from the manufacturers. The Serum Institute of India (SII) has allocated 12,000 doses of Covishield to Chaitanya Hospital for May. The rate at which the vaccine will be available at private hospitals is not known yet.

The UT Administration has stated that private hospitals may also start the vaccination drive on a payment basis immediately after the receipt of the jabs.

33K vaccines arrive in city

The Central Government has allotted 33,000 vaccines for Chandigarh to be administered to persons in the age group of 18-45 years. The consignment of Covishield was received by the UT health authorities on Wednesday.

How many slots at which site

While 100 slots each will be available for the Maloya HCW Dispensary, the PU Dental College, the PGI and the GMCH-32, 200 slots each will be for a school in Mani Majra, a school in Sector 45 and the GMSH-16 auditorium.