COVID-19 vaccination: Citizens can get jabs at their convenience, says Dr Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that hospitals do not have to stick to schedules to vaccinate people against COVID-19 and can adjust the schedule of vaccinations.

He added citizens can get vaccinated according to their convenience. This will help in ramping up the nationwide vaccination drive since more and more citizens will become eligible for the COVID-19 jabs.

"The government has removed the time constraint to increase the speed of vaccination. Citizens of the country can now get vaccinated 24x7 at their convenience. PM Shri @narendramodi values the health of Indian citizens and also understands the value of their time," Dr. Harsh Vardhan tweeted in Hindi and shared a news clipping on the same.

The flexible schedule allowed by the Union government will be applicable to both private and government hospitals that are involved in the nationwide vaccination drive since they are linked with the CoWIN app and website.

The cumulative number of vaccine doses crossed 1.54 crore doses which included 6,09,845 shots given on Tuesday according to the Union Health Ministry. The 1.54 crore doses include 67,32,944 healthcare workers (first dose), 26,85,665 healthcare workers (second dose), 55,47,426 frontline workers (first dose), 828 frontline workers (second dose) and 4,34,981 beneficiaries over 60 years old and 60,020 beneficiaries in the 45-59 age bracket with other illnesses.

Acceptance for a free and safe COVID-19 vaccine is the highest among pregnant woman and mothers in India, according to a survey by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. In India, the acceptance for the life-saving jabs stood at 60 per cent among pregnant women and 78 per cent among non-pregnant women.

India has provided approval to two COVID-19 vaccines-SII-AstraZeneca's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. While Covishield has shown 62 per cent efficacy at two full doses in phase-3 clinical trials, Bharat Biotech is yet to publish efficacy data for Covaxin from its phase-3 trials.

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