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Those above 45 years will be eligible to receive novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from April 1, 2021, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said in a press conference March 23.
“We request that all eligible should immediately register and get vaccinated,” Javadekar said.
India started countrywide COVID-19 vaccination on January 16 with healthcare workers and frontline workers. In the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive that started on March 1, those aged above 60 years and those in the age group of 45-60 with co-morbidities were eligible for vaccination.
He added that the second dose of AstraZeneca-Oxford University’s Covishield, according to scientists, can be administered between the fourth and eighth week of the first dose, instead of a gap 28 days.
More than 32.53 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered March 22, the highest single-day count so far. As many as 4.7 crore people have received COVID-19 vaccine doses so far, the Union health ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs released updated guidelines for effective control of COVID-19. It said:
States and Union territories, where the proportion of RT-PCR tests is less, should rapidly increase it, to reach the prescribed level of 70 per cent or more. The new positive cases, detected as a result of intensive testing, need to be isolated / quarantined at earliest & provided timely treatment.
It added there will be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods including “those for cross land-border trade under treaties with neighbouring countries”.
As much as 81 per cent of the latest 401 samples sent by Punjab for genome sequencing turned out positive for the new United Kingdom SARS-CoV-21 variant, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said March 23.