Centre initiates on-site registration on CoWIN for 18-44 yrs age group

New Delhi: In addition to online appointment, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has initiated on-site Registration on CoWIN for the 18-44 years age group on Monday. The service aimed to minimise vaccine wastage and to facilitate those without internet reach is now enabled only for Government Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs).

In the case of sessions exclusively organised with online slots, towards the end of the day, some doses may still be left unutilised in case the online appointee beneficiaries do not turn up on the day of vaccination due to any reason. In such cases, on-site registration of a few beneficiaries may be necessary to minimise the vaccine wastage, said the Ministry

However, this feature will be used only upon the decision of the respective State/UT Government to do so. State/UT must decide on the opening of on-site registrations/facilitated cohorts' registration and appointments for the 18-44 years age group based on the local context.

The Union Health Ministry has advised the states and UTs to issue clear instructions to all District Immunisation Officers to strictly adhere to the decision of the respective State/UT Government regarding the extent and manner of using the on-site registration feature.

Fully reserved sessions can also be organised for providing vaccination services to the beneficiaries belonging to facilitated cohorts. Wherever such fully reserved sessions are organized, all efforts must also be made to mobilise such beneficiaries in sufficient numbers.

Although CoWIN has already provided features such as registration of up to 4 beneficiaries with a mobile number and facilitates for registration and appointments through applications, such as ArogyaSetu and Umang and through the Common Service Centres, people requiring facilitated cohort's facility and those without access to the internet or smartphones or mobile phones may still have limited access for vaccination.

However, one site registration feature is presently not open to Private CVCs, presently and they will have to publish their vaccination schedules exclusively with slots for online appointments.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has further cautioned States/UTs to take due care while opening up on-site registration and appointment for the 18-44 years age group, in order to avoid overcrowding at vaccination centres.