Now You Can Choose Your Own Vaccine at Private Centres from May 1: Report

Starting May 1, those registering for vaccines can choose their jab at private inoculation centres.

According to an exclusive report by Economic Times, the health ministry has directed that all private vaccination centres will have to declare which jab will be on offer, stocks available and the price they will charge on the CoIN platform.

Prior to this, those who wanted to register for the vaccine could only choose the centre they wanted to visit with no choice for vaccines. India currently administers Covishield and Covaxin.

News18 had earlier reported that getting registered on the CoWIN web portal and taking an appointment to get a jab will be mandatory for those between 18 and 45 years.

“It’s expected that once the vaccination is opened for all adults, there could be a lot of crowd at the vaccination centres. To avoid such a scenario registering on CoWIN portal and making an appointment to get a vaccine will be made mandatory for the new beneficiaries. Walks-in will not be allowed in the beginning so that there is no chaos,” RS Sharma, CoWin Chief told News18.

Registration for vaccination for all those aged above 18 will begin on the CoWIN platform and Arogya Setu App from April 28. The inoculation process as well as documents to be provided to get the vaccination will remain the same.

Those above the age of 45 can still avail on-site registration facility to get vaccinated, they added.

Meanwhile, the centre has written to all states and has advised them to monitor the number of hospitals that have procured vaccines and have declared stocks and price per jab on CoWIN to ensure that adequate stocks are available ahead of vaccination scheduling visibility of slots on the online portal.

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