Walk-ins for vaccination four times no. of online registrations

Walk-ins for vaccination four times no. of online registrations

Of 7 Cr Regns Till Friday, Only 1 Cr Done Via Online

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:03.04.2021

Walk-in registrations for Covid-19 vaccination have exceeded those done online by a huge margin. Of the more than seven crore registrations till 9pm on Friday, just one crore were done online, while 3.75 crore people walked in to receive the jabs, official data reviewed by TOI showed.

The total also includes about 2.3 crore health and frontline workers whose details were pre-populated on the Co-Win software.

More than 22 lakh registrations were recorded on Friday till 9pm. The numbers under review relate almost completely to the third phase onwards when vaccination was opened to 60-plus citizens as well as those above 45 with co-morbidities. Phase I and II involved health and frontline workers and their details were supplied by states. A relatively small number of these recipients walked in to receive their shots.

States and hospitals were allowed walk-in registration almost from the start of the 60-plus vaccination stage and continued with the age bracket expanded to 45-plus.

India administered more than seven crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines till 9pm on Friday.

This included 4.3 crore people aged above 45. While around 6.1 crore people have been covered so far with the first dose, 92.6 lakh have been fully vaccinated.

7-day case average in TN same as peak

The seven-day average of daily new cases in TN touched 2,513 on Friday, a level that was on a par with the peak in November 2020 when the average was around 2,500. “The count is rising exponentially on a week to week basis,” said director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam. Cases are increasing in urban, tier-two cities and rural areas, he said. P 4

Daily cases in India near 90,000-mark

A day after crossing the 80,000 mark, India’s daily Covid-19 case count rose to just around 1,000 short of 90,000, with 88,988 fresh infections recorded in the past 24 hours, the highest since September 26. The daily tally had crossed 20,000 on March12 and hit 80,000 on April1. The highest daily tally of fresh cases recorded in India was 98,795 on September 17. P 12

‘Rapid vax will arrest growth of Covid-19’

Experts stressed on the urgent need to ramp up vaccination, particularly in the wake of rising number of Covid-19 cases across the country. A study by Tata Consultancy Services said that with no vaccination, the second wave would likely peak at 70,000 cases and the tail end would likely start in 140 days. On the other hand, with vaccination rate of 80,000 per day, the peak would be 20,000 cases and the tail end would likely start after 60 days.

“Rapid vaccination will not only reduce peak cases but will significantly arrest the growth of disease. Taking the simulated results into account, we believe that increase in the vaccination rate will help in arresting the second wave of Covid-19 in India as well as reduce the impact of the third wave,” the study said.

To promote online registration and ensure sessions are conducted in an organised way, the government has said walk-in vaccinations will be allowed only after 3pm from April 1. While both online and onsite registrations are allowed for vaccination, online registrations enable the government as well as hospitals to better manage sessions, an official said. “Online registrations not only help manage the crowd, data and stock availability but also help eliminate any pilferage or corruption,” the official said.