Covid vaccination drive: Eligible beneficiaries in Punjab for next phase estimated to be 25-30 lakh, says health secy

“The estimated eligible beneficiaries in Punjab in the third phase of vaccination are 25-30 lakh. While vaccination will be completely free of cost at government hospitals and centres, private establishments cannot charge more than Rs 250 for each beneficiary (per dose) which includes Rs 150 as cost of vaccine and upto Rs 100 service charges. Private hospitals cannot charge more than Rs 100 per person (per dose) for services,” said Lal.

He further said, “We will be providing vaccines to the private hospitals. Since the cost of Rs 250 is for per dose per person, it has to be paid again for the second dose after 28 days, if a beneficiary gets vaccinated at a private establishment. At government hospitals, vaccination will be entirely free.”

Healthcare and frontline workers who were left out in the earlier phases can also register and vaccinate in this phase.

According to the Ministry of Health guidelines, the eligible beneficiaries for this phase are:

• All Health Care Workers and Frontline Workers as specified by the MoHFW
• All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 years or more as on 1st January 2022.
• All such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 years to 59 years as on 1st January, 2022, and have any of the specified co-morbidities which have been recommended by National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) and approved by Government of India from time to time, subject to certification to that effect by a registered medical practitioner…

COWIN 2.0

With multiple glitches having been reported in the first version of the COWIN app of the Union health ministry, which was used to register healthcare workers and frontline workers who were vaccinated in phase 1 and 2, the third phase of vaccination will be executed via COWIN 2.0. As per guidelines sent by the Union ministry to the states, “the COWIN system will transit to Version 2.0 from February 27. The system will run in test mode on February 27 and February 28…”

For the third phase of the vaccination drive, beneficiaries can do advance self-registration through COWIN, or they can also go for on-site registrations by walking-in at the designated hospitals and vaccination centres.

Who all are eligible for 45-59 years category with comorbidities?

As per the list of the co-morbidities released by the union health ministry, beneficiaries from 45-59 years of age having these conditions will be eligible:

• Heart failure with hospital admission in past one year
• Post Cardiac Transplant/Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)
• Significant Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVEF < 40%) -Moderate or Severe Valvular Heart Disease, Congenital heart disease with severe PAH or Idiopathic PAH -Coronary Artery Disease with past CABG/PTCA/MI and Hypertension/Diabetes on treatment -Angina and Hypertension/Diabetes on treatment -CT/MRI documented stroke and Hypertension/Diabetes on treatment -Pulmonary artery hypertension and Hypertension/Diabetes on treatment -Diabetes (&gt; 10 years or with complications) and Hypertension on treatment
• Kidney/Liver/Hematopoietic stem cell transplant: Recipient/On wait-list
• End Stage Kidney Disease on haemodialysis/CAPD
• Current prolonged use of oral corticosteroids/immunosuppressant medications, decompensated cirrhosis, severe respiratory disease with hospitalizations in last two years/FEV1 < 50%
• Lymphoma/ Leukaemia/Myeloma, Diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 1st July 2020 OR currently on any cancer, therapy
• Sickle Cell Disease/Bone marrow failure/Aplastic Anemia/Thalassemia Major
• Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases/HIV infection and Persons with disabilities due to Intellectual disabilities/Muscular Dystrophy/Acid attack with involvement of respiratory system/Persons with disabilities having high support needs/Multiple disabilities including deaf-blindness
• A registered medical practitioner’s certificate is mandatory to be produced by the 45-59 years beneficiaries with comorbidities.

595 new cases, 11 more deaths

As per the media bulletin for Punjab released Saturday, a total of 1,54,066 beneficiaries (healthcare and frontline workers combined) have been vaccinated with the first dose till now and 36,252 have received the second dose. The target however was to vaccinate around 3.85 lakh beneficiaries (2.05 lakh registered healthcare workers and 1.80 lakh frontline workers) in Punjab.

With 11 more Covid deaths Saturday, the toll in Punjab has reached 5,825. The number of new cases again crossed the 500-mark Saturday and with 595 new cases, total cases in state has reached 1.81 lakh. There are 4,436 active cases in the state and the maximum active cases are in SBS Nagar district (709), followed by SAS Nagar (556) and Ludhiana (553). Of the fresh cases reported Saturday, maximum 75 were reported from SBS Nagar, Jalandhar 70 and Patiala 69.