Ten private hospitals in Kolkata allowed for phase-2 of Covid vaccination

Beneficiaries can either pre-book slots on CoWin portal or walk in for vaccine; registration on upgraded CoWin portal started from 9am today and the process of vaccination from noon

The rush at AMRI Hospitals in South Kolkata is unmistakable with mostly senior citizens queueing up for the jab as the second phase of vaccination started on Monday for the 60-and-above and 45- plus with comorbidities.
 

“The response has been huge,” said Rupak Barua, director and group CEO, AMRI Hospitals.
 

AMRI is one of the 10 private hospitals in Kolkata that has been allowed by the government for the vaccination.
 

Vaccination at AMRI is mostly being done on the basis of pre-bookings on the CoWin portal.
 

“We have been allowed a capacity of vaccinating 150 beneficiaries at each our two units, of which 100 is for the second dose,” explained Barua. Scope for spot registrations, therefore, are limited.
 

Beneficiaries have the option of pre-booking slots on the CoWin portal or walking in for the vaccine; registration on the upgraded CoWin portal started from 9am today and the process of vaccination from noon.
 

At state-run SSKM Hospital, beneficiaries were mostly registering on the spot. At one point in time, however, the portal stopped working and those who had turned up for the second dose, were made to wait.
 

West Bengal started with 127 locations for the second phase of vaccination, which would be ramped up over a period of time.

Around 10 private hospitals were allowed in Kolkata, but that number, too, would increase over time.
 

“A total of 1,600 hospitals can be enrolled; inspection is currently on and the number will be gradually ramped up.

This is an ongoing process,” said a health department official.
 

The last three days, West Bengal vaccinated more than 100,000 a day. The poll-bound state will have to complete vaccination before assembly elections. Till Friday, West Bengal had vaccinated cumulatively 1.14 million in 34 days across 1,115 sites.
 

However, a health department official said that preparation was underway to increase the number of sites to 5,000, which would mean that five lakh could be vaccinated in a day.