New Delhi: When vaccinations open up from 1 May for all Indian adults, the Government of India is expecting about six-seven million vaccinations to happen every day.
Under the new central vaccination guidelines, all those born before 31 December 2004 (and will be 18 years or above on 1 January 2022) will be eligible for the vaccination from 1 May onwards. Registrations will open on 28 April.
“In the last two phases, we have seen a daily traffic of up to 4.5 million on some days. This time we are expecting a traffic of 6-7 million and we have augmented backend capacities suitably to handle as much traffic as comes in. Now that the age limit has expanded, we would naturally have a lot more to handle and we have prepared ourselves accordingly,” Dr R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority and head of the empowered group on the CoWin platform told ThePrint.
On Monday, India announced a liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination from 1 May.
The strategy frees the process from the tight-control of the central government, leaving states to decide on several parameters — such as which age groups will be vaccinated free of cost and in what order, which vaccine manufacturer will source the shots and also choosing foreign vaccines that have received regulatory approval in India, rather than rely only on the ones manufactured in the country.
The list of vaccines will be updated on the platform, as needed, said Sharma while refuting reports of worsening CoWin glitches.
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Turning 18 years old
Dr Sharma said that a conscious decision was taken to relax the age benchmark so that anybody who completes 18 years by 1 January 2022 can get registered to be vaccinated.
“We have kept the age bar liberal. Anybody born before 31 December 2004 can register. This basically means that even people who are 17 years and a few months old can get themselves registered,” he said.
Sharma refuted concerns about worsening CoWin glitches.
“Where do you get these reports from? There have been no glitches since January. Obviously if a person makes wrong inputs, there would be problems. We have made it clear that details should be as they appear on the [person’s] identification document, but if that is not followed and there’s a discrepancy in spelling or any other detail, there would be a problem,” he added.
While the platform is equipped to handle additional numbers and walk-in registration option would continue to be available, Dr Sharma advised people to register in advance to avoid confusion. “We are expecting a rush, so it is better to register in advance,” he said.
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All approved vaccines will be updated
The platform, which is currently handling only two types of vaccines, can handle any number of them, including the ones which will get licensed in the future.
“We will update the list as and when they get approved and then vaccinations can continue as usual,” the official said.
India has already given regulatory clearance to Russia’s Sputnik V and has also eased the regulatory process for other foreign-approved vaccines to get clearance in India.
Asked if bulk slots can be booked on the platform by companies, Sharma said, “Book as many as you want, but you will have to give the details of each of them. You cannot say this is a baraat, and you will vaccinate 200 people without giving the information required,” he said.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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