All Indians above the age of 45 will become eligible for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine from Thursday, April 1. The government announced this last month in a bid to speed up the process of inoculating the people of the country.
According to the Union health ministry, advance appointments for vaccination can be booked through the Co-WIN website or by visiting the nearest vaccination center after 3 pm and getting on-site registration done. The nationwide vaccination drive was started by the government on January 16 with healthcare and frontline workers getting inoculated in the first phase. In Phase 2 that started on March 1, all senior citizens aged more than 60 years and those in the age group of 45-59 years with co-morbidities were eligible for vaccination. The Covid-19 vaccine shots were provided free-of-cost at government hospitals and health centres, while those willing to take the shot at private centres were charged up to Rs 250 per dose.
The price of Covid-19 vaccine will remain the same even in the third phase. The decision to speed up the process of vaccination has been taken in the wake of a resurgence in the number of Covid-19 case in the past few weeks. India has been recording over 50,000 cases of the infection daily and the nationwide tally has crossed 12 million. The Centre said on Tuesday that the situation is turning from “bad to worse” and asked state government to ensure Covid-appropriate behaviour is followed.
