Bhubaneswar: A day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced free vaccination for all above 18 years, the health department has braced up for online registration of the beneficiaries from April 28 for the third phase inoculation drive in the State.
“The registration will begin from April 28 based on the guidelines of Central government,” Health director Bijay Panigrahi said.
The beneficiaries can register themselves on CoWin App. After the registration, slot booking will be held given the availability of vaccines, he said.
“We will inform the beneficiaries through SMS regarding their date of inoculation once after which we received additional vaccines required for the third phase inoculation. The vaccination drive will wholly depend on the quantities of vaccines available in the State,” Panigrahi pointed out.
“We have written to two pharma companies to provide vaccines, but yet to receive any reply,” he added.
As many as 55,055 380 people have been vaccinated so far in the State. The vaccination programme is underway at 540 centres across the State today. The State has a stock of 2.05 lakh Covishield and 3.7 lakh Covaxin, which will last 3-4 days maximum, he added.
Panigrahi clarified that a person who received the first dose at any private centre, can take the second shot at a government site free of cost. If a person tests positive for Covid-19 after the first dose of the vaccine, he can take the second shot four weeks after his recovery, he said.
It is worth mentioning that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced free vaccination for the age group of 18-45 during the third phase vaccination programme.
As many as 19.3 million people will benefit from the inoculation exercise, for which the government will spend Rs 2000 crore.