Govt announces free Covid-19 vaccination from March 1 for those above 60 yrs of age

NEW DELHI: The Union government on Wednesday announced those people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated free of cost at government centres from March 1.

However, 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 to four days as they are in discussion with manufacturers and hospitals, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced.

He added that people will be vaccinated at 10,000 government and over 20,000 private vaccination centres.

According to the Health Ministry, as on February 24, the vaccination coverage was 1,21,65,598 through 2,54,356 sessions. These include 64,98,300 HCWs (first dose), 13,98,400 HCWs (second dose) and 42,68,898 FLWs (first dose).

On day-39 of the vaccination drive, 4,20,046 vaccine doses were given. Out of which, 2,79,823 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 9,479 sessions for first dose (HCWs and FLWs) and 1,40,223 HCWs received second dose of vaccine.

Out of total 1,21,65,598 vaccine doses, 1,07,67,198 (HCWs and FLWs) have received first dose of vaccine and total 13,98,400 HCWs have received the second dose of vaccine.

Meanwhile, 12 states and Union Territories have administered more than 75 per cent of the registered HCWs. These are Bihar, Tripura, Odisha, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, UP and Rajasthan.

“10 States/UTs have vaccinated more than 60 per cent of registered FLWs. These are Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh,” the Health Ministry said.

India registered 13,742 new daily cases in the last 24 hours and 14,037 recoveries which led to a net decline of 399 cases in the total active caseload. India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,07,26,702 today. The recovery rate is 97.25 per cent.