The corporation has expanded the definition of frontline workers to cover more people
Who is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Chennai?
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, all those over 60 years of age are eligible. All co-morbidities above 45 and up to 60 years of age are also eligible (please see this link for an approved list of co-morbidities: https://www.thehindu.com / sci-tech / health / coronavirus- List-of-comorbidities-for-priority-in-kovid-19-v pronunciation / article 33950281.ece).
In addition, due to the increase in COVID-19 cases, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has expanded the definition of frontline workers to include street vendors, hawkers, security guards, rag-pickers and informal waste collectors. In a conversation with reporters on Saturday, GCC Commissioner G. Prakash said the hotels also included cab drivers and carriers.
This means that these categories of frontline workers can get vaccinated when they are over 18 years of age.
They can walk into any vaccination center with their Aadhaar and Street Vendor Card or identity card issued by their employers. A senior GCC official said that in these categories of workers, even if they do not have identity cards for employment, centers will be considered for vaccination based on availability.
Not everyone over the age of 18 is yet eligible. The GCC, however, plans to expand vaccination to other businesses such as employees handling customers in banks.
Where can vaccination take place?
The government has a total of 432 vaccination centers in Chennai. These include government hospitals, urban primary health centers and mini-clinics. Many private hospitals have also established vaccination centers. The complete list of centers can be seen at https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/covid-vaccine/.
Anyone meeting the eligibility criteria can walk into a center with the relevant evidence to get vaccinated. While c250 will be charged in private hospitals, vaccination is free at government-run centers.
Will a camp be organized in my area?
The GCC intends to provide a vaccination center within a radius of 500 meters for each home. Vaccination camps are organized at various locations, depending on the prevalence of cases and response from sanitary inspectors from different areas. A group of 40 eligible residents of an apartment complex or a few apartment complexes in a locality can contact the ward office concerned for organizing vaccination camps in their apartments. This will be arranged based on the availability of medical teams.
What are mass vaccination camps?
On an experimental basis, the GCC organized a mass vaccination camp at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday. This was to help employees who cannot visit vaccination centers on working days. The GCC intends to vaccinate 2,000–3,000 people a day in a mass vaccination camp. The camp at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be held every Saturday. Based on the success, the GCC is planning to set up such camps at other locations. Again, anyone meeting the criteria can visit these mass vaccination camps with relevant evidence. While the GCC has so far vaccinated 4.5 lakh people, it aims to cover 25 lakh -30 lakh people by the end of April.
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