SHILLONG, May 13: The Health department is all set to start the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group under the third phase of vaccination from Friday even as citizens have complained of failed registration.
A statement from the NHM Mission Director said that registration for the vaccination on the CoWIN portal (www.cowin.gov.in) began on April 28 and booking of slots at designated COVID vaccination centres opened on May 13.
All the government facilities throughout the state have slots of 100 vaccines per day except Rynjah State Dispensary and Shillong Civil Hospital which have 150 slots.
The statement said that vaccination in government centres will be free of cost but private hospitals would charge Rs 500/dose.
“As we continue our vaccination drive we request the citizens to kindly have patience and wait for their turn to get vaccinated. We will ensure that all willing beneficiaries will get vaccinated in due course of time,” the statement said.
Asking people not to queue up outside the vaccination centres if they have not booked an online appointment, the statement added that vaccination for 45+ citizens, healthcare workers and front Line workers would continue.
Meanwhile, several citizens have expressed disappointment over failure to register for the first dose of Covishield vaccine for the 18-44 age group.
Registrations for the 18+ were fully booked within 10 minutes after the Health department opened the registration, they complained.
Citizens also claimed that the government has designated very few vaccination centres for the 18+ category.
“The government should consider giving the vaccination to the 18+ group if the 45+ citizens are not willing to get themselves vaccinated,” they added.
Reacting to the complaints, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that the slot for Shillong was already full when the registration opened.
Urging the citizens to avoid any rush, he said that citizens who have registered for the vaccination will get detailed information on their registered contact number.
It may be mentioned that 42,000 doses of Covishield vaccine reached the state on Thursday.
