People Above 18 Years of Age Can Register For Vaccination from Saturday Onwards

New Delhi- People above the age of 18 will now be able to register via an online portal called CoWin from Saturday (April 24) onwards to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination which will begin from May 1.  

The registrations will open in the next 48 hours on the CoWin platform. 

Keeping in mind the massive spike in the cases of the novel coronavirus, the government has made vaccines available to all adults for the first time. 

As per the new vaccination guidelines, states and private entities can buy vaccines directly for inoculations. 

As per the new policy, the vaccine manufacturers will require to supply 50% of the produce to the centre and the remaining could be sold to the state and the open markets freely.

Along with the Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, the government will also use Russia's Sputnik vaccine. 

The Serum Institute of India yesterday said that the vaccine will be sold in the states for ₹ 400 and in private hospitals for ₹ 600. At ₹ 150, the price in the centre will remain unchanged. 

All eligible persons can apply for vaccination through the CoWin online portal or the Aarogya Setu app. 

When the centre launched its vaccination policy explaining the nature of pricing and the age group it is going to be administered to, the Congress party responded to the policy with an attack as to why the prices of the vaccine different for the centre and the states while adding that the vaccination prices should not be higher for the states. 

Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram countered the vaccination policy announced for the 18 and 45-year-olds by stating, "We have no problem in vaccine manufacturers in making profits, but the Centre cannot abdicate its responsibility," and added, "You want one nation one market, etc. Why can't we have one nation one price?"

In the meantime, India, as of Wednesday, recorded the highest ever single-day spike in the cases of the novel coronavirus with an astonishing 3.14 Lakhs, the highest the world has ever witnessed in a single day. The total tally of active caseloads in the country presently is 22.84 lakhs taking the total number of cases registered in this country so far to 1.59 crores. Meanwhile, India reported 2,104 COVID-induced fatalities taking the total tally of fatalities to 1.84 lakhs. 

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