Centre advises States, UTs to plan for scaling up of vaccination coverage

The Central Government has stressed on the need to accelerate the pace of vaccination drive in the country.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has urged the States and Union Territories to make complete use of the available flexibilities on the CoWIN platform to enhance the pace of vaccination.

In a review meeting, the Union Health Ministry has informed that many States such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh are reporting much higher wastage than the national average.

Sources reports, the Centre has advised the States and Union Territories to plan for scaling up of vaccination coverage through available stocks and anticipated supplies till the end of next month.

It has also been advised to constitute a two to three member dedicated team to regularly coordinate with vaccine manufacturers for timely supplies of vaccines.

Apart from this, States and Union Territories have been asked to prepare a district-wise and COVID Vaccination Centre wise plan for administration of COVID-19 vaccine.

The Centre has asked to prepare a communication strategy to address vaccine hesitancy in rural and tribal areas. States were informed that COVID vaccine SPUTNIK has now been added to the COWIN portal.

Flexibility has been added in CoWIN for separate sessions for different age groups. Private hospitals have been advised not to allow offline vaccine registration.

Regarding publication of vaccine schedules, States have been advised to fix a time duration in a day. It will make it easier for citizens to see availability and book appointments in a simple and easy manner.