Starting from 1 April, citizens above 45 years old will be entitled to take vaccines against novel coronavirus, Union minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 vaccine roll out in India FROM January 16 prioritized around 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers for getting their shots in the first phase. As of February 24, only around 1.21 crore people have been vaccinated; of these, almost 14 lakh have received the mandatory second shot.

Those above 45 years of age will require a signed medical certificate, which will attest to the severity of their illness for them to qualify for COVID-19 vaccine in this phase. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that around 27 crore people would be vaccinated in this stage, of whom around 10 crore are over 60.

India started nationwide COVID-19 vaccination on 16 January with healthcare workers and frontline workers. The list includes health workers, both from government and private institutions, along with sanitation workers, other frontline workers, defense forces, police and other paramilitary forces. In the next phase of COVID-19 inoculation, drive commence on 1 March, those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with co-morbid conditions were eligible for vaccinations.

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