India Vaccine Net Widens Today To All Those Who Are 45 Or Older: 10 Facts

India has been witnessing a worrying surge in Covid cases over the last few weeks. On Wednesday, the centre asked states to identify low vaccine-coverage pockets, specially in the districts reporting a spike in infections.

With 6.43 crore doses administered since the start of vaccine rollout on January 16, India is still far from reaching the target of inoculating 30 crore people by July. 

All those who wish to register themselves can book an appointment through the dedicated CoWIN portal or the Arogya Setu app. Appointments can be rescheduled or canceled through the portal or the mobile application for the second dose. A digital record of every vaccination is being maintained.

Last evening, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the preparation for vaccine drive and assured that there is "no shortage of vaccines" and the government will "continually replenish states' supplies". Vaccine wastage is expected to be minimised to less than 1 per cent, he said.

"In a country as vast and populous as ours, significant efforts have gone into strengthening end-to-end supply chain infra to ensure last-mile delivery of #COVID19 vaccine. Priority groups were inoculated first, gradually increasing coverage to other sections as well," the Health Minister tweeted.

India expanded vaccination drive to people above 60 and those above 45 with serious illnesses on March 1. However, the country continues to see an upsurge in cases.

Two vaccines - Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin - have been cleared so far by India's drug regulator. The country is soon expected to get seven more vaccines, the government has said.

The government on Tuesday denied that strains of the Covid virus in India with double mutations were responsible for more severe infections and a faster spread. So far 807 cases have been identified in India of the UK variant of the virus, 47 of the South African variant and one of the Brazilian strain. 

With 1.21 crore total infections, India has the third highest number of cases in the world after the United States and Brazil.

The government is focusing on "test, track and treat" policy to curb the spike in cases. Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan had urged the centre to widen the vaccine net to younger people.