From March 1, COVID shots for people above 60 and 45+ with co-morbidities

After targeting health and frontline workers, the Centre has announced phase II of the COVID vaccination drive, which begins March 1, with focus on people above 60 and those over 45 but with co-morbidities, said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar at a press conference on Wednesday (February 24).

A total of 10,000 government-run centres (where it will be free of cost) and 20,000 private centres (price to be declared in 3-4 days) are being prepared to inoculate 27 crore Indians. “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. The vaccine will be given free of cost at government centres,” Javadekar said.

“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 Health Ministry within three-four days as they are in discussion with the manufacturers and hospitals,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Kejriwal government in Delhi may ask people from five states — including Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab – to show Covid-19 negative certificates before entering the National Capital, PTI reported.

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In phase I, the Centre set a target to vaccinate about three crore healthcare and frontline workers. As of Wednesday morning, only 1.21 crore people have been vaccinated. Of these, fewer than 15 lakh have taken the mandatory second jab.

Covishield (developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute) and Covaxin (developed and manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech) are being used for vaccination right now. Russia’s Sputnik V has applied for emergency use. Sputnik V, with an efficacy rate of 91.6 percent, appears more efficient than Covishield, which has an efficacy rate of 70 per cent. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is still under trial.

Also read: Centre’s SOP for flyers to stop import of SA, Brazilian strains of COVID-19

Currently, Maharashtra and Kerala together have about 3/4th of the country’s active cases. Maharashtra (6,218 cases), Kerala (4,034) and Tamil Nadu (442) are the top three contributors. The country recorded 13,743 new cases in the last 24 hours with 14,037 recoveries during the same time.

A total of 104 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra reported the maximum deaths (51) while Kerala reported 14 deaths and Punjab 10.