Indians above 18 years of age to get vaccinated from 1st May 2021

New Delhi: – Everyone above the age of 18 years of age will be eligible to receive the doses of the Corona vaccine. Vaccination of all above the age of 18 years will start from 1st May, in this next phase of the vaccination campaign. The union government also decided that the state governments, private hospitals and industrial institutions can purchase the vaccine directly from the vaccine manufacturers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with experts and senior officials on Monday and reviewed the Corona situation. The Prime Minister also held a high-level meeting on Sunday. It is said that the decision was taken after due consideration of the suggestions and other communications during the meeting. This will provide a major impetus to the vaccination program in the country.

As per the current scheme of things, only people above 45 years of age were eligible to receive the vaccine. In January, vaccination had been started in the first phase for Doctors, health workers, police, and other frontline workers. From March, vaccination for senior citizens and people above the age of 45 with comorbidities was started. But within a few days, the decision to vaccinate all above the age of 45 was taken. The death rate was higher in the 45 plus age group; this decision was taken to vaccinate all above 45 to contain the death rate.

But there has been an outbreak of the second Corona wave and youth and children being infected with the mutated Coronavirus. In the 24 hours, 1,600 deaths were reported, between Sunday and Monday mornings, from around the country, and there was an addition of 273,000 new Corona cases. The demand for vaccination of everyone above the age of 18 was gaining ground against his background. But the stand of the union government was that the main objective of vaccination is to contain the death rate, and vaccination is being carried out as per age groups worldwide. But given the current situation, vaccination has been opened for everyone above the age of 18. But the vaccination of people above the age of 45 will be the priority.

As per the decision taken by the union government, the vaccine manufacturers will supply 50% of their production to the government at the stipulated price. They will be allowed to sell the balance 50% at the same stipulated price to the state governments or in the open market. In view of the current outburst, the government has brought flexibility in the evaluation and supply of the vaccines. 100 million people have been vaccinated in the country so far and India is the fastest to reach the figure of 100 million. Also, the union government has supplied 127 million Covishield and 19 million Covaxine doses to the state governments.

Restrictions to be tougher in Maharashtra

351 patients died of Coronavirus on Monday, whereas 58,924 new cases were detected. Although curfew has been imposed in the state, it has been observed that many people are still roaming on the roads. In this scenario, it will be challenging to contain the pandemic. Against this background, the restrictions are being made more stringent. The decision to allow grocery shops to open only between 7 am and 11 am was taken in the meeting presided over by the Deputy Chief Minister.

The Corona pandemic is not showing any signs of coming under control. Although the number of deaths and new cases have been lesser than the last four days, the number of active patients has reached 675,000. This is putting immense strain on the health infrastructure and there is a shortage of Oxygen, Remdesivir injections, and beds. Even in this situation, the citizens do not seem to be taking the curfew, imposed with operating freedom to the essential services and businesses, seriously. It was observed that some people were roaming around under the pretext of purchasing groceries, and to bring this situation under control, the grocery shop timings have been restricted. The state government has also given indications of making the restrictions more stringent. Experts have suggested that a strict lockdown has to be imposed at least till 1st May, and the Chief Minister is likely to decide in the next two days in this matter.