Stop new health, frontline staff registrations: Centre

The Centre has asked all states to stop new registrations of healthcare and frontline workers and shift to age-appropriate vaccinations. The health ministry has red-flagged a high number of new registrations of healthcare and frontline workers in certain districts and asked the state governments to conduct an audit and verify each case.

The health ministry has directed state governments to not register any healthcare and frontline worker for the Covid-19 public immunisation drive. As per the ministry’s timelines, the healthcare and frontline workers, who were part of the first phase of vaccination, had to be covered by February 28 and the remaining through mop-up rounds by March 6.

However, several states continued registration throughout March. According to sources, the move comes after several districts saw a sharp increase in new registrations, especially for frontline workers. These were also correlated with certain complaints that ineligible beneficiaries had been included as healthcare and frontline workers.

Six states, including Rajasthan and Maharashtra, have now been asked to comb through new registrations in March and conduct an audit of districts with high numbers. Speaking to ET, Rajasthan National Health Mission director Naresh Thakral said, “We had some districts where the new registrations were high in March. These districts have been asked to conduct an audit and verify again every case to ensure there is no misuse and the deserving beneficiaries are getting the vaccine.”

In a video conferencing with states ahead of the expansion of vaccination drive, the Centre discussed how in certain districts even relatives of doctors or attendants accompanying senior citizens to vaccination centres are being registered as frontline workers and getting the vaccine. “This is also being done as sometimes there is nobody in the queue and the dose is being wasted. So rather than waste, the person already present in the centre is being offered the vaccine,” said a health ministry official.

The states have now been told that if any genuine healthcare or frontline worker has still not registered and received the vaccine, he should be included in the age-appropriate vaccine category. Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan told ET, “No genuine healthcare or frontline worker would be denied a vaccine but they would now be included in age-appropriate vaccination drive. If they are 45 and above they would be vaccinated right now and if they are below this then they would now have to wait their turn.” Electionbound Tamil Nadu has been vaccinating its officials on polling duty.