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Private healthcare facilities participating in Covid-19 vaccination drive can charge ₹250 per dose from beneficiaries, the government said on Saturday.
From Monday, people above 60 years and those with co-morbidities above 45 can get vaccinated. While the vaccine will be administered free of cost at government facilities, private hospitals empanelled with PM Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) will also offer the vaccination at their facilities.
The decision to increase the participation of private hospitals was taken to speed up the vaccination drive.
Strict protocols
The decision to allow private hospitals to charge ₹250 per dose was conveyed to State health officials by Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan during a video-conferencing. Around 10,000 private hospitals are offering healthcare under Ayushman Bharat and 687 under CGHS. The States are also allowed to utilise the services of private hospitalsempanelled under State government health insurance schemes. All private health facilities undertaking Covid-19 vaccination will have to strictly adhere to norms of due process, quality and safety, including integration with the National Co-Win technology platform. They must provide for adequate space, cold-chain facilities, required number of vaccinators and support staff and arrangements for dealing with adverse events following immunisation, the statement said.
The States were also asked to map private facilities with the nearest cold-chain points to ensure that the vaccination goes on uninterrupted.
Meanwhile, another virtual meeting of chief secretaries of eight States and Union Territories were called by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, who advised them to give priority to districts witnessing a spurt in Covid-19 cases and watch out for mutant strains and clustering of cases.
The meeting was attended by chief secretaries of States/UTs of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir. These States/UTs have been reporting a surge in new cases in the last week.
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