Union Health Minister has written to the States to immediately undertake necessary measures for expansion of covid 19 vaccination drive to include beneficiaries aged 45 years and above.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to the Chief Secretaries and Administrators of all States and Union Territories to direct the concerned officials in this regard.
He said, they should ensure wider dissemination of information of such expansion among citizens for increased uptake of vaccination services.
He said, special focus should be given on optimal utilization of the capacity of COVID-19 vaccination centres while minimizing the wastage of vaccines.
Mr Bhushan said that National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, NEGVAC has been guiding all aspects of COVID-19 vaccination drive on the basis available scientific evidence.
Based on the recommendation of NEGVAC, the government of India has now decided to expand the prioritized age group to include all persons aged 45 years and above for COVID-19 vaccination from 1st April,2021.
He said, there will now be no need for a comorbidity certificate for people aged 45 years to 59 years.
The CoWIN software is also being suitably modified for doing away with the need for confirmation of comorbidities at the time of online registration and on-site registration or for uploading the comorbidity certificate at the time of vaccination. The registration on CoWIN would begin from April 1.