Covid-19 vaccination: Big day is finally here

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 28

The UT Health Department will conduct the third phase of the vaccination drive at 13 government healthcare sites and five private hospitals on the first day tomorrow. The number of sites will be scaled up in the next few days.

The vaccination programme has now been exponentially expanded to all citizens above 60 years of age and those within the age bracket of 45 to 59 with specified comorbidities.

The Health Department today inspected the private hospital sites and interacted with their nodal officers. The sites where online registration is available are the GMSH (OPD Block), Sector 16, GMCH (B Block), Sector 32, Sector 45 Civil Hospital, Mani Majra Civil Hospital and the Health and Wellness Centre (HWC), Sector 49.

The on-site registration will be available at all sites, including private hospitals. The government Covid vaccination centres (CVC) will provide free vaccination to the age-appropriate groups while the private hospitals will charge Rs250 per person per dose.

The timings of the vaccination will be from 9 am to 4 pm. However, the walk-in registrations will close at 2 pm.

The Director, Health Services, Chandigarh, has issued instructions to all hospital vaccination sites to promote on-the-spot registration, especially on the first day. For the purpose, any one of the documents — Aadhaar card, electoral photo identity card and certificate of comorbidities for citizens in the age group of 45 years to 59 years — will be required.

Dr Neeraj Kumar, Managing Director of Chaitanya Hospital, said: “We are fully prepared to carry out the vaccination programme from tomorrow. We have all necessary arrangements for emergency situations such as adverse events following immunisation. Tomorrow onward, we have been directed to charge the vaccination cost from healthcare workers and frontline workers as well.”

All healthcare workers and frontline workers, citizens that are aged or will attain the age of 60 or above (as of Jan 1, 2022) or will attain the age of 45 years to 59 and have any of the specified comorbidities are eligible for vaccination.