Government opens on-site registration for 18-44 years age group for COVID-19 vaccination

This feature will not be available for private CVCs, at present, and these will have to publish their vaccination schedules exclusively with slots for online appointments

The Union government has decided to provide on-site registration/facilitated cohort registration facility on CoWIN digital platform for 18-44 years age group, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) said.

“Considering in case of sessions exclusively organised with online slots, towards the end of the day, some doses may still be left unutilised in case the online appointee beneficiaries do not turn up on the day of vaccination due to any reason. In such cases, on-site registration of a few beneficiaries may be necessary to minimise the vaccine wastage,” it stated.

It also added, “Even though CoWIN provides for features such as registration of up to four beneficiaries with a mobile number, facilitated registration and appointments through applications, such as ArogyaSetu and Umang, and through the Common Service Centres (CSCs), etc., people requiring facilitated cohort’s facility and those without access to internet or smart phones or mobile phones may still have limited access for vaccination. Therefore, the feature for on-site registration and appointment is now being enabled for 18-44 years age group on CoWIN.”

However, this feature is being enabled only for government COVID Vaccination Centers (CVCs), at present.

This feature will not be available for private CVCs, at present, and the these will have to publish their vaccination schedules exclusively with slots for online appointments, the ministry said.

It further said, “This feature will be used only upon decision of the respective state government and UT administration to do so. States and UTs must decide on opening of on-site registrations/facilitated cohorts’ registration and appointments for 18-44 years age group based on the local context, just as an additional measure to minimise vaccine wastage and for facilitating vaccination of eligible beneficiaries in the age group 18-44 years.”

The ministry has also advised the states and UTs to issue clear instructions to all district immunisation officers to strictly adhere to the decision of the respective state governments and UT admninstration regarding the extent and manner of using the on-site registration and appointment feature for 18 to 44 years’ age group.

Fully reserved sessions can also be organised for providing vaccination services to the beneficiaries belonging to facilitated cohorts. Wherever such fully reserved sessions are organised, all efforts must also be made to mobilise such beneficiaries in sufficient numbers.

Further, to avoid overcrowding at the vaccination centres, the ministry has advised the states and UTs that abundant caution should be exercised and extreme due care should be taken while opening up of on-site registration and appointment for 18-44 years age group.