COVID jab from March 1 for 60+ & 45-with-morbities

The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination will begin in the country firom March 1, and would cover people above 60 years and those above 45 but with co-morbidities, the government announced today.

Unlike the previous rounds, in which healthcare workers and frontline workers such as police personnel and municipal sanitation workers were covered, the next phase will not be entirely free.

While those getting vaccinated at around 10,000 dedicated government facilities will get it free of cost, those getting inoculated at private centres, whose numbers are expected to be around 20,000, will have to pay for the jab.

Covid vaccinations in India close to 1-crore mark

The charges for the vaccination will be decided by the Health Ministry in a couple of days, said Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, while briefing the media about decisions taken at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

The number of people above 60 in the country is put at around 10 crore. The number of co-morbid people above 45 is not known.

Over 1 cr received the shots

According to the data available on the Co-WIN portal, which tracks Covid-19 vaccinations in the country, over 1.84 crore healthcare workers and frontline workers are registered on the portal for the jab till Wednesday evening. And as many as 1.05 crore have received the shot till date, some both doses of the vaccine. The priority vaccination of the healthcare workers, in fact, came to a close on Wednesday.

Delhi tightens up

With more cases being reported in some States, the Delhi government has decided to make it compulsory for people travelling from Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab to produce a negative Covid-19 report to enter the national capital with effect from Saturday.

According to Delhi government sources, the decision was taken keeping in mind that these five States accounted for 86 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases recorded in the last one week. Though the national capital was one of the worst-affected a few months ago, the number of cases has come down substantially in Delhi. On Tuesday, Delhi recorded only 145 out of a total of 13,742 new infections detected across the country. – The Hindu BusinessLine