2nd phase of vaccination to begin from 1 March; those above 60 & 45 with co-morbidity to get the shot

Feb. 24: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said that the second phase of vaccination would begin 1 March, with priority for those over 60 and those over 45 with co-morbidities. He said around 27 crore people would be vaccinated in this stage, of whom around 10 crore are over 60. The vaccine will be available both at government as well as private clinics. While private hospitals will charge the patients for the jabs, those going to government clinic will be administered the vaccine for free. The second phase of the vaccination will also include armed forces and police personnel.

From 1st of March, people over 60 years of age or over 45 with comorbidities will be able to get vaccinated at 10,000 Government facilities and many private hospitals. #CabinetDecisions pic.twitter.com/M6x2cfu7au

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) February 24, 2021

India has approved two vaccines for emergency use – Covishield (developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India) and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. On Wednesday Russia’s Sputnik V applied for emergency use. It has an efficacy rate of 91.6 per cent.