Source::Xinhuanet
NEW DELHI,
India's federal government on Wednesday said the second phase of the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country will kick off on March 1, inoculating people above the age of 60 and above 45 with comorbidities.
The announcement was made by Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar. The decision to start the second phase of the vaccination drive was made at a cabinet meeting, officials said.
According to Javadekar, the vaccines will be administered to people free of charge in the government hospitals. "From March 1, people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated at 10,000 government and over 20,000 private vaccination centers," Javadekar said.
"The vaccine will be given free of cost at government centers. 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 health ministry within three-four days as they are in discussion with the manufacturers and hospitals," said the minister.
India kicked off its vaccination drive on Jan. 16. At present healthcare and frontline workers are being vaccinated. India's health ministry on Wednesday morning said over 12.1 million people have been vaccinated across the country. In the first phase, a total of around 30 million healthcare and frontline workers are expected to receive the vaccine.
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