Co-Win chief explains when booking for vaccines will start for people above 18 years

Private and state government hospitals which were part of the first and the second phase of the vaccination drive need not to get on Co-Win separately, RS Sharma said.

As booking for Covid-19 vaccinations for people between 18 and 44 years has not yet started ever after 24 hours of the beginning of the registration on cowin.gov.in., Co-win chief and the CEO of National Health Authority RS Sharma said it completely depends on the state governments and the private hospitals.

Citizens above the age of 45 wait to receive a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at a centre in Mumbai. (PTI)

"The platform is ready with all kind of options," Sharma said.

Explaining that the process for private hospitals and the state government hospitals to get on board is nothing new, Sharma said, "Hospitals which conducted vaccination in the previous phases are already there on the platform. They do not need to get on the platform separately. They will have to just inform which days they will function for which age groups and which vaccines they will administer."

Registration on Co-Win began on April 28 but people were not able to book appointments as the hospitals on the platforms are only showing slots for people above the age of 45 years.

Several states, including Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, on Thursday, said they may miss the launch date as they do not have the adequate vaccine storage to expand the ongoing drive.

In the third phase, the Centre has allowed the state governments and private hospitals to procure vaccines directly from the vaccine manufacturers. Both Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have revised per dose vaccine price and brought it down after the Centre asked the vaccine makers to reconsider the prices. For a dose of Serum's Covishield, state governments will now have to pay ₹300, while for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, states will have to pay ₹400.