Set up more private centres before vaccination of people in 18-45 age group begins: Centre to states

They have also been asked to keep track of the number of hospitals that have purchased vaccines and declared stock and prices on the CoWin portal, as well as to schedule vaccinations for the eligible populations.

Ahead of the roll-out of vaccination of people aged between 18 and 45 from May 1, the Centre on Saturday asked states to register additional private vaccination centres and ensure effective crowd management at sites and stressed on inoculation through "only online registration" for beneficiaries in the age bracket. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Empowered Group on Technology and Data Management to Combat Covid-19 chairman R S Sharma held a high-level meeting on Saturday to guide states and union territories on effective implementation of the new vaccination strategy (Phase-3) and to review their augmentation plans so as to strengthen the existing hospital and clinical treatment infrastructure for Covid-19 patients. With regards to the Phase-3 vaccination strategy from May 1, the states were advised to register additional private Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) on mission mode by engaging with private hospitals, hospitals of industrial establishments, industry associations, etc., the health ministry said in a statement.