Hyderabad: The Telangana medical and health department on Tuesday has asked all private hospitals to administer COVID-19 vaccines to citizens after procuring it from the manufacturers directly. The directions have been issued in the wake of increasing COVID-19 cases in the state over the last month.
However, it may be noted that the state government is not supplying any vaccine to private centers / hospitals. The managements have to buy it on their own. The state government also asked them to limit the vaccination only to people who are above 45 years of age. This mean that those in the age group of 18-45 years will have to wait for some more time.
Director of public health, Dr G Srinivasa Rao said that the COVID-19 vaccine will only be administered to those who have booked slots online. Walk-in vaccinations are not allowed, he clarified. At the government centers however, COVID-19 vaccine is free of cost in the state and at private centers, citizens will have to pay for the vaccination.
The government, on the other hand, has made several suggestions regarding the treatment to be provided to COVID-19 patients. Dr Srinivasa Rao clarified that only those with moderate and severe symptoms should be admitted to the hospital. The State has, so far, administered 48.14 lakh doses. About 6.37 lakh people have taken both the doses.
As many as 51 patients died due to the COVID-19 infection on Tuesday. The State reported 6,361 new positive cases as it tested 77,435 samples. As many as 8,126 patients have recovered from the infection. The State has 77,704 active cases.