A health official draws a dose of Covishield at a hospital. Photo: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo
New Delhi: From April 1, all people above 45 years of age are entitled to get COVID-19 vaccine, Union minster Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday.
Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet, he said even people without comorbidity and above the age of 45 years, can get vaccinated.
He requested people entitled to get themselves registered to take the COVID-19 shot.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated and vaccination of the frontline workers started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The announcement comes at a time when India is seeing another surge in COVID-19 cases, after a few months of relatively slow spread.
India recorded 40,715 coronavirus cases in a day on Tuesday morning, taking the nationwide infection tally to 1,16,86,796, while the active caseload at 3,45,377 registered an increase for the 13th day in a row.
The active caseload now comprises 2.96% of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 95.67%, the ministry data updated at 8 am stated.
The COVID-19 death toll of the country increased to 1,60,166, with 199 daily new fatalities.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one crore-mark on December 19.
A total of 1,60,166 deaths due to the disease have been reported so far in the country, including 53,457 from Maharashtra, 12,609 from Tamil Nadu, 12,444 from Karnataka, 10,963 from Delhi, 10,308 from West Bengal, 8,759 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,191 from Andhra Pradesh, the ministry said.
(With PTI inputs)