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Govt to enlist private hospitals to make Covid-19 vaccine available 24/7
04 March 2021
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday announced that citizens will now be able to take vaccine round the clock as per their convenience, a day after the centre asked states and union territories to utilise capacities available with private hospitals functioning as coronavirus vaccination centres in order to speed up coronavirus vaccination drive. The government has ended the time constraint to increase the speed of vaccination. Citizens of the country can now get vaccinated 24x7 at their convenience, the minister said in a tweet on the microblogging website Twitter.
Centre allows all private hospitals to administer COVID-19 vaccine
According to the union health ministry, all private vaccination centres should have effective crowd management protocols in place, along with facilities for seating, water, proper signage, etc
BusinessToday.In | March 3, 2021 | Updated 08:58 IST
In the first two phases so far, 1,48,55,073 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country till 1 pm on Tuesday
The Centre has allowed all private hospitals to give COVID-19 vaccine if they adhere to the coronavirus-related safety norms. Also, it has asked states and union territories to utilise the optimum capacity of private medical facilities empanelled under three categories Ayushman Bharat, the Central Government Health Scheme, and the state health insurance schemes.
It asked them to utilise the optimum capacity of all private hospitals empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and the state health insurance schemes to enable them to effectively function as CVCs.
The states and UTs were asked to regularly collaborate with the private hospitals to ensure that their optimum capacity for vaccination is utilised. Private hospitals not empanelled under the above-mentioned three categories have also been permitted to operate as CVCs if they have adequate number of vaccinators, adequate space for observation of the vaccinated, adequate cold chain arrangement and adequate arrangement for management of Adverse Events Following Immunisation(AEFI), the statement said.
The states and Union territories were also urged not to store, preserve, conserve or create a buffer stock of the COVID-19 vaccines, the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.