“Everyone above the age of 18 to be eligible to get vaccine against COVID-19”: Centre

The vaccination drive will be opened up for all citizens above the age of 18 from May 1, the Government of India announced on April 19. The immunisation drive was currently restricted to only citizens aged above 45.

“Everyone above the age of 18 to be eligible to get vaccine against COVID-19,” said a statement issued by the government.

All adults will be vaccinated in “a liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination”, the government said in a statement on a day India reported a new record high of 2.73 lakh cases in a day.

“Vaccine manufacturers incentivised to further scale up their production, as well as attract new national and international players,” it added.

“Government has been working hard from over a year to ensure that maximum numbers of Indians are able to get the vaccine in the shortest possible of time,” PM Modi said.

Pricing, procurement, eligibility and administering of vaccines will be flexible in the latest round of the world’s largest vaccination drive, the government said.

Vaccine manufacturers have been incentivized to scale up their production and release up to 50 per cent of their supply to state governments and in the open market at a declared price.

States can now get additional vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers.

Furthermore, The Centre will allocate vaccines from its share to States or Union Territories based on the number of cases. Vaccine wastage can affect the quota of a state. The second dose for existing priority groups will be priority.