Published 23:09 IST, March 2nd 2021
COVID-19: Pvt. hospitals not under AB-PMJAY, CHGS to be used as vaccination centres
Health Ministry on Wednesday announced that Pvt hospitals not under AB-PMJAY, CHGS, State Insurance Schemes can also be used as COVID-19 vaccination centres.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday announced that private hospitals not under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), and State Insurance Scheme can also be used as COVID-19 vaccination centres.
Elaborating on the same, the ministry said, "In addition to all government health facilities, all private hospitals empanelled under AB-PMJAY, CGHS and similar State Health Insurance Schemes can function as COVID-19 vaccination centres, subject to them mandatorily adhering to some specific norms".
This comes after Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan along with the Chairman of the Empowered group RS Sharma, a member of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19 (NEGVAC) chaired a high-level review meeting via video conferencing today with Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of Health and Family Welfare of States and Union Territories.
In the meeting, a detailed presentation on the status of vaccination in the States and Union Territories took place, after which it was decided that 100 percent capacities of all private hospitals empanelled under AB-PMJAY, CGHS and similar State Health Insurance Schemes can function as COVID-19 vaccination centres.
Those hospitals not empanelled under any of the three categories have will be allowed to operate as CVCs if they have an adequate number of vaccinators, adequate space for the observation of the vaccinated, adequate cold-chain arrangement and adequate arrangement to deal with situations emerging following inoculation.
"No shortage of Vaccination"
Reiterating that there is no shortage of vaccines, the ministry asked the States and Union Territories to ensure adequate allocation of vaccines to all the hospital for the entire duration for which the session has been planned, to enable them to function as CVCs in a smooth and obstruction-free manner.
Barring the States and Union Territories from storing, reserving, conserving or creating a buffer stock of vaccines, the ministry assured that it will provide the required number of doses from time to time.
"Hospitals to have in place crowd management protocols"
Concerned about crowding at vaccination centres, the ministry directed the States and Union Territories to have in place effective crowd management protocols, along with facilities for seating, water, proper signage and asked them to ensure COVID-19 appropriate behaviour among beneficiaries.
"Vaccination slots to be open for 15 days to a month"
The States and Union Territories were also directed to open the vaccination slot after consultation with the private hospitals for 15 days to a month as a part of their vaccine timetable. To accommodate all the potential and eligible beneficiaries, the ministry also pitched in the idea of scaling up the Co-WIN 2.0 portal, which it called the backbone of the vaccination program.
(Inputs from ANI)
Updated 23:09 IST, March 2nd 2021