The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that prior booking and pre online registration were not mandatory for Covid vaccination.
As per the government, anyone aged 18 years or more can directly go to the nearest vaccination center, where vaccinator performs the on-site registration and provides vaccination in the same visit, for Covid vaccine.
This is also popularly known as 'walk-ins'. It has been In a statement issued on Tuesday, the health ministry said: "The facilitated registration through the Common Service Centers (CSCs) on Co-WIN, is just one of the many modes of registration on Co-WIN."
The COVID-19 vaccination drive in India, launched in mid-January, has been marred by vaccine shortage and over the last several weeks, the daily jabs have been very low. The government, on the other hand, has assured that it is targeting to fully cover at least the entire adult population of about 94 crores by the year-end
The ministry said that out of the the total 24.84 crore vaccine doses recorded on Co-WIN as on 13th June, 19.84 crore doses or nearly 80 per cent of all vaccine doses had been administered through walk-in vaccination.
So far, those in the 18-44 year age group could receive Covid jabs only after registering and booking slots in advance through the CoWIN portal or Aarogya Setu app, a system that will continue for private hospitals.
