Covid-19 vaccination for all adults over the age of 18 is seen as a critical step in containing the second wave of Covid-19, which has infected 15,061,919 people in India. The government declared on Monday that starting May 1, all people over the age of 18 would be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
The long-awaited announcement comes at a time when India has seen a regular increase of over 2,00,000 coronavirus cases in the last five days. “India is vaccinating people at a world-record rate, and we will keep up the momentum,” says the minister. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the move is seen as a significant step in controlling the second wave of Covid-19, in which India’s infection tally has reached 15,061,919 and the toll from the viral disease has risen to 178,769 people.
On January 16, this year, the first phase of India’s Covid-19 immunization program was initiated, with all health and frontline staff willing to receive the vaccine.
On March 1 and April 1, the second stage of the vaccination campaign was launched in two parts. During this process, all people over the age of 60 and those over 45 with comorbidities are evaluated.
From May 1, the nation’s entire adult population, i.e. all people over the age of 18, will be permitted to receive the vaccine under the “liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 policy” of Covid-19 vaccination. By April 30, the health ministry claims, “a fair amount of coverage of vulnerable groups” would be in place. “India has been using a complex mapping model focused on vaccine availability and coverage of vulnerable target groups to decide when to open up vaccinations to other age groups,” the ministry said in a statement following the PM’s meeting.
According to a statement from the health ministry, vaccine manufacturers will be required to supply the government with 50% of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) published doses beginning May 1 and will be free to supply the remaining 50% to state governments and the open market.
Before the drive starts on May 1, the government cleared that manufacturers must make an advance declaration of the price for 50 percent supply that will be applicable to state governments and on the open market. Based on these rates, the state government, private hospitals, industrial establishments, and others would be able to obtain vaccine doses from manufacturers.
