Vaccine for 60-plus and above 45 with comorbidity from Mar 1

New Delhi, Feb 24
People aged more than 60 years and those who are 45 plus and have comorbidities will be able to get a vaccine against Covid-19 at a Government centre or a private hospital from March 1.
Announcing this, the Central Government on Wednesday said people above 45 years of age will have to show a certificate stating they have comorbidities.
Addressing a press briefing on Cabinet decisions, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the vaccination will be carried out at more than 10,000 Government centres and over 20,000 private vaccination centres across the country.
"From March 1, people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated at 10,000 Government and over 20,000 private vaccination centres," Prakash Javadekar said.
Free Covid-19 vaccine at Govt centres
The Minister said Covid-19 vaccine will be provided free-of-cost at Government centres.
However, people will have to pay for the vaccine if they get it from a private centre.
"Those who want to get vaccinated from private hospitals will have to pay. The amount they would need to pay will be decided by the Union Health Ministry within three-four days as they are in discussion with vaccine manufacturers and hospitals," Prakash Javadekar said.
This is part of the next phase of India's Nationwide Covid-19 vaccination that started on January 16. In the first phase of the vaccination drive, healthcare workers on Covid-19 duty were vaccinated. The second phase covered other frontline workers and people engaged in essential services.
Age limit increased from 50 to 60 years
Government sources privy to the development said earlier all people aged more than 50 years were to be covered in this phase of vaccination, but the Government later decided to fix the eligibility age limit at 60 years. The number of people aged more than 60 years in India is less than those who fall in the age group of 45 to 50 plus.
Sources say, during Covid-19 vaccination, data of only those who are more than 60 years will be recorded in the Co-Win app for free vaccines at Government hospitals.
So far, India has approved only two vaccines for its Covid-19 vaccination drive. The first one is Covishield which has been developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca and is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
The second vaccine is Covaxin, developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech. It is unclear at present if people will have a choice to select which vaccine they would like to take.
India Today