Covid Vaccine registration in India
After the inoculation process has entered the dry run stage; people are looking forward to getting their first vaccine shots in India. Soon first vaccine shots will start in India following a proper strategic plan and guidelines similar to elections. Work has been initiated to develop logistics requirements, administration of doses and other arrangements. Country's top drug regulator DCGI (Drug Controller General of India) has extended permit and approval to two vaccines in India namely Oxford's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for emergency use.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan announced that vaccines will be made available to citizens according to priority order in all states and appealed to the citizens to be alert and refrain from being misguided by rumours. Stating the example of Polio Vaccine success he cleared the air of apprehension among people. Following are important points, one should be aware of about the vaccine.
Who will get the Vaccine?
Healthcare Workers: According to data of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) around one crore health workers are rigorously working with government and private hospitals for Covid relief and will get top priority. The priority is then dimensioned into categories like frontline workers, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), nurses and supervisors, medical and pharmaceutical staff, support staff and medical students. The data will be compiled and updated in a government monitored platform Co-WIN designed to regulate rollout of vaccine distribution systems.
Frontline Workers: Around two crore workers associated with central and state police services, armed forces, home guard, prison staff, disaster management, civil defence organisation, revenue officers, municipal workers etc are working under Covid 19 Surveillance and other related activities. Workers appointed in state government and urban affairs, defence and housing ministries will also come under top priority segment.
People aged above 50 years: This parameter will focus on the population above the age of 50 year and be further classified under the category of people above 60 years. Latest electoral list of Lok Sabha elections will be used for identification. Anyone born on or before 1 January 1971 will fall under this category.
Areas adversely affected by Covid: Next spot in the list will be acquired by states or UTs ambushed by severe surge in covid cases.
Remaining Population: Population under the age of 50 encompassing diseases amid pandemic situations like diabetes, cancer, hypertension, lung diseases etc and remaining population will be vaccinated on basis of availability and disease epidemiology.
How to register for a vaccine?
Common Service centres will be utilized for identity verification and self registration. Self registration will be facilitated in later phases of implementation. Individuals can opt one out of the following authentication method;
Biometric: This will autofill details of person from name to permanent address making use of aadhar authentication.
OTP Authentication: An OTP will be sent on a registered mobile number linked with Aadhar for verification which on successful authorisation will auto-populate the details based on Aadhar card.
Demographic Authentication: An individual can also opt to fill details manually i.e., Name, DoB, gender and selection of Demo Authentication.
A photo identity will be required for person's identification which may include one of the following: Aadhar Card, Driving Licence, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under scheme of Ministry of Labour, MNREGA Job Card, official identity cards issued by MPs/MLAs/MLCs, PAN Card, Passbook, Passport, Service IDs issued to employees of state, central governments or PSU/Public Limited Companies, Voter ID etc.
Photo identity can be uploaded on the Co-WIN system (in PDF, PNG or JPG Format) or can be extracted from a person's DigiLocker account. After registration date and time will be alloted in slots. On spot registration facility is not allowed and only registered beneficiaries will be vaccinated. District Collector (DC) /District Magistrate (DM) in a team with District Immunization Officer will lay out session sites, appoint vaccinators, supervisors and beneficiaries for successful operation of procedure with say in date time allocation. Respective District Administrations will monitor the flow of process on particular date and times. Co-WIN is equipped with inbuilt monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
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