Telangana opens vaccination for all from today

The State government on Wednesday decided to open up Covid vaccination for all individuals above 18 years of age. Accordingly, the administration of vaccines for 18 years and above will start from Thursday at designated Government Covid Vaccination Centres (GCVC) across the State.

Beneficiaries residing in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and GHMC will have to reserve their slot on the online CoWIN portal while those in rural areas can walk in to local Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to get vaccinated. The health department’s strategy of vaccinating high risk groups, however, will be continued. The long-term sustenance of the Covid vaccination drive for all individuals above 18 years in Telangana will depend on the availability of Covid vaccines, health officials said.

To implement the massive exercise of administering Covid vaccines to over 1.5 crore individuals above 18 years in the State, the health department had



established 100 GCVCs within the limits of GHMC, while 204 GCVCs will be operated in ULBs. All the 636 existing Primary Health Centres (PHCs) will start vaccinating eligible persons in rural areas.

“I urge all beneficiaries to make use of the facility and get vaccinated. The second dose of the Covishield vaccine will be administered between 14 weeks and 16 weeks from the first dose. The vaccination drive for above 18 years will depend on the vaccine stocks and hopefully we should be able to get adequate supply from the Centre,” Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao said here on Wednesday.

As on Tuesday, 1,08,72,157 individuals in the State have received either the first or second dose since the launch of the vaccination drive on January 16. According to the vaccine bulletin, out of these, 93,27,149 have received the first dose while 15,45,008 have received both doses.