People in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh should not be sent back from COVID-19 vaccination centres due to poor internet connectivity, the State government has instructed all district administrative and medical heads.
The State government issued the guidelines as part of the drive to vaccinate people above the age of 60 and those above 45 with co-morbidities.
“There is a problem of internet connectivity in rural areas,” Amit Mohan Prasad, U.P. health principal secretary, wrote to all District Magistrates and Chief Medical Officers.
No beneficiary who came there (rural areas) for vaccination should be sent back, he said.
In rural areas, the process of photographing the beneficiary and other formalities should be completed and the vaccine could be administered. The data could be uploaded later once the internet connection was available, Mr. Prasad said.
In urban vaccination centres, 60% of the slots would be kept for free registration while 40% would be for walk-ins. In rural areas, this would be 50-50, said the official.
