On Friday, the state health department was directed by The Union ministry of health and welfare department to prepare the government and private hospitals enrolled under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) as session sites superintending the Covid-19 vaccine to citizens above 60 and 45 years with chronicity during the third phase of immunization starting from March 1. The health officials attending the virtual meeting of Friday were catechized to encourage self matriculation of the beneficiaries.
According to the database of the Jharkhand Government, around 62.97 lakh people are above the age of 60 and competent for taking the jab. By the same token, the state government reckons that 10.4% of the state’s population which is near about 3.21 lakh people between the age of 45-59 years have various comorbidities such as asthma, cardiac disease, thyroid, diabetes, and cancer.
According to an official who attended the meeting, “Besides the hospitals enrolled under the AB-PMJAY, Central Government Health Scheme, hospitals matriculated for state-run health insurance scheme will also be used as session sites.” He also said that beneficiaries who intend to get themselves vaccinated will have to register through the Co-win portal. Also, the senior citizens will have to carry an identity card for age proof and people with comorbidities will have to bestow medical paper for supporting their claim. The health department will probably create datasets for the senior citizens from the state electoral roll, even though the next phase of inoculation is discretionary. A detailed guideline is yet to be issued for phase – III of the vaccination drive.
The Union Government insinuated that people will get free jabs at the government hospital. “There can betoken amount which may be called user-free levied at the private healthcare facilities,” a senior official said. The state nodal officer of vaccination, Dr. Ajit Prasad said that the directives issued to them were handed over to the respective district administrations.
The vaccination drive frontline workers and health workers will remain inhibited on Saturday and Sunday as the Co-Win portal will undergo some changes to avoid teething problems in the third phase of the vaccination drive.
