Nearly 91 centers to go live in Telangana for COVID-19 vaccine rollout for senior citizens

The senior health officials further asked people aged between 45-59 years of age to keep ready the document that certifies the comorbidities.

A health worker shows the Covishield vaccine. (File photo | EPS)

HYDERABAD: Nearly 91 centres across Telangana will be seeing the soft launch of the vaccine rollout program of the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday. This will be the second phase of the roll-out and is targetted for the priority groups above the age of 60 years and between 45-59 years of age who are suffering from comorbidities. 

Each of these 91 centres will have a maximum capacity of 200 beneficiaries each and the registrations will be only via the Cowin app and based on slots selected by beneficiaries. Roughly 18k will be eligible to get vaccinated on day 1.

“There will be 46 private and 45 government hospitals involved in the launch program on Monday. To avoid overcrowding and to conduct this in an orderly manner we will be allowing only prior registrations via the Cowin app. Walk-in registrations will be carried out only from next week,” said Dr GS Rao, Director of Public Health of Telangana.

While 91 centres are only for the soft launch and the coming week’s rollout, from the next week, all 1200 centres will be seeing the vaccination program.

“We want the system to be fully in place before expanding it to all centres. Telangana has done very well in South India when it comes to vaccinating frontline and healthcare workers and we intend to do the same for the general public,” added Dr Rao.

The senior health officials further asked people aged between 45-59 years of age to keep ready the document that certifies the comorbidities.

"There is a specific document released by Government of India with a list of 20 different comorbidities which has been circulated to all health officials via IMA, Nursing assosciation and Registered Medical Practioner (RMP) groups. One can simply get this form from them and get a declaration of their specific comorbidity. One can also print it out and get it signed duly. No other document will be permitted as proof of comorbidity,” explained Dr Ramesh Reddy, Director of Medical Education.

​In all government vaccine centres this form would be available and one can get their comorbidity certified there itself.

It is also crucial to note that the vaccination will be priced at Rs250 at the private hospitals and will be free of cost at government facilities.

“The app will be live by Sunday, 28th February evening and we urge the citizens to make use of the same and head to the vaccination centres. Vaccines have been duly studied and are safe and the best way to counter the next wave of covid and all its mutations,” added Dr Rao.

Hospitals for vaccination centres on March 1

• 91 centres in Telangana open for vaccination on March 1
• 45 Government facilities and 46 private health facilities
• Hyderabad to have 24 centres all other districts to have 1-2 centres open on March 1st 
• List of all centres will be visible with GPS location on Cowin app - ( cowin.gov.in ) 
• Vaccination centre timing- 9.00 am to 3.00 pm
• Online registration capacity is 200 per day, first come first serve 
• The total time likely to be taken for vaccination is 1 hour including 30 minutes of observation, document verification and wait time.
• Vaccination to be allowed only in hospital premise- no home facility allowed- provision of wheelchair and other assistive gears will be done at each facility
• The vaccination centre will be different from the main hospital/ treating area
• The state government will release a list of all 1200 vaccine locations in the daily bulletin for the convenience of the public apart from it being on the Cowin app

How to tackle AEFI (Adverse Events following immunization)

• Each private and government vaccine centre to have a site manager
• Doctors to be present at the time of registration and post administration of the vaccine to monitor beneifciaries
• Any AEFI within 30 minutes will be addressed at the hospital itself
• Any discomfort experienced after that the beneficiary can call 104 or the nearest health centre
• Cold, fever, headache and muscle pain at site of injection most likely reactions

An individual will not know which vaccine is to be administered to them at the time of registering on the app. However one can say no to a specific vaccine after registering as well and reschedule elsewhere.