India opened the new crown vaccine for people over 45 years old on April 1, and officials in charge of vaccination said that people aged 18 to 44 years old will also be eligible for vaccination from May 1, and they can choose their preferred vaccination.
India first opened the new crown vaccine on March 1 for people over 60 and 45 years old who are at high risk of diabetes and other syndromes, and then opened the vaccination for people over 45 years old on April 1. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said the government will continue to administer the vaccine to them.
In an exclusive interview with News 18 on May 30, RS Sharma, chairman of the Indian New Crown Vaccine Authorization Committee, said that people aged 18 to 44 will be eligible for vaccination from May 1 and can choose their preferred vaccination at private vaccination centers.
He added that the freedom to choose vaccinations only applies to those who pay for them at private vaccination centers.
Sharma, who is in charge of the CoWin portal, said CoWin will display the types and prices of vaccines, which will help vaccinators to choose the vaccines they want.
The CoWin portal was set up by the Indian government to provide people with the opportunity to register for vaccination appointments and locations; however, when the CoWin portal opened for all adults to register for vaccination appointments from 4 p.m. on the 28th, it was down for a while, causing public discontent.
According to the statistics, after the opening of the registration on the 28th, about 13.3 million people registered for the vaccination from May 1.
India currently has a total of COVAXIN vaccine developed locally and produced by Bharat Biotech International, and the Covishield vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and produced by Serum Institute of India. The Covishield vaccine is available to the public.
But previously, the government granted emergency access to India’s own COVAXIN without completing Phase III clinical trials, causing distrust among the public, and the government had stipulated that health care workers, front-line workers and those with diabetes and other high-risk groups who were qualified for vaccination could not choose the vaccination, which led to a decrease in willingness to receive the vaccine.
Sharma also said that people registering for vaccination appointments on the CoWin portal does not mean that the first person to make an appointment is necessarily given priority for vaccination, but that it is based on the principle that those who arrive at the vaccination center first will be vaccinated.
In addition, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said it will continue to provide vaccination services for people over 45 years of age, who can be vaccinated free of charge in the government vaccination, and those who choose private vaccination centers will have to pay a fee of 250 rupees.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held the first joint meeting of the ministry heads after the second wave of the worsening epidemic on the 30th to discuss the supply of medical supplies such as oxygen, drugs and vaccines.
On the eve of the opening of vaccination for adults over 18 years of age on May 1, there were reports of shortages of vaccine stocks in some provinces and cities, and the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare noted that the government is coordinating with vaccine manufacturers to increase the production and supply of vaccines. vaccinations starting on May 1 will be slightly slow, but will stabilize soon thereafter. Those provinces and municipalities that purchase vaccines from the manufacturer can begin vaccinating people on May 1.
The second wave of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic in India has deteriorated rapidly, with the number of new cases exceeding 370,000 on a single day on the 29th, again setting a new record and continuing to be the highest in the world, while the number of new deaths on a single day on the 29th also exceeded 3,500 for the second consecutive day; as of 7:30 pm on the 30th, the cumulative number of cases in India reached more than 18.94 million, with more than 3.25 million active cases requiring treatment and a cumulative death toll of 209,266 people.
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