18-44 years beneficiaries need not pre-book vaccination slot now in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: Now, people in the 18-44 age group can also avail the option of walk-in registration to get the jab against Covid-19 at all government vaccination centres. An individual will only require to bring along a government recognised identity card.

The decision to end the pre-booking condition for this age group was taken by the district administration on Friday with an aim to make vaccination more accessible to the people. The move is expected to boost the turnout, which as highlighted by TOI repeatedly, had dropped in October and November in comparison to September.

Earlier, people aged between 18 and 44 years had to pre-book a slot for vaccination at government health facilities, while those in the 45-59 years age group as well as those aged 60 and above had the option to either pre-book or simply walk in with a government recognised ID for on-the-spot registration to get the jab.

However, there was no condition for the special vaccination centres set up at religious places or workplaces and people of all age groups could avail of any of the two options. These centres have been witnessing more footfall than government hospitals and health care centres.

“Now, every eligible person can just walk into the nearest vaccination centre to get the jab,” said district magistrate (DM) Abhishek Prakash after a meeting of health officials. The order is effective from Saturday.

Officials were also instructed to run a special five-day vaccination drive from November 28 to December 2 for those who have missed their second dose. According to the health department’s estimate, nearly 4 lakh people have not taken the second dose even after the end of the 12-16 week gap period.

The DM also said that a cluster approach will be adopted to achieve 100% vaccination in the district in which healthcare workers will saturate an area at a time by vaccinating all eligible residents through special camps. He also fixed vaccination targets for all the eight rural blocks in Lucknow.

TOI had also highlighted that though Lucknow has achieved the milestone of administering 50 lakh doses, rural areas were lagging in the vaccination rate.