Raipur, Mar 1 (PTI) As many as 3,259 senior citizens and 509 people aged 45 and above with comorbidities were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Chhattisgarh on Monday, the first day of the second phase of the inoculation drive, a health department official said.

Vaccine doses were administered to eligible beneficiaries at 60 government-run facilities and 21 private hospitals in the state, the official said here.

On the first day, 3,259 senior citizens (60 and above) and 509 people in the age group of 45-59 with co-morbidities were vaccinated against COVID-19 (total 3,768), he said.

Private hospitals serving as inoculation centres were asked to follow all guidelines to maintain safety and quality of vaccines and administer doses by using Co-WIN 2.0, the Centre's digital platform for the drive, the official said.

Beneficiaries are required to produce one of the ID cards such as Aadhaar, voter card, passport, driving licence, PAN, NPR card and pension documents (with photo) to get the shots, he said.

People in the 45-59 age group and having chronic diseases are required to upload a certificate of comorbidity issued by a registered medical practitioner on Co-Win 2.0 and produce a hard copy at the vaccination centre, he said.

The vaccination at government hospitals is free, while private hospitals are allowed to charge up to Rs 100 as service fee on top of Rs 150 for vaccine, which comes to a total of Rs 250 to be paid by a beneficiary, the official said.

Initially, 40 private hospitals empanelled under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) will serve as vaccination sites in the state and this number will be scaled up later, he said.

The Chhattisgarh Health Department has identified at least 60 lakh senior citizen beneficiaries.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)