COVID-19 vaccination drive for 18+ to begin today amid second wave of coronavirus

As of Friday morning, more than 2.45 crore beneficiaries have registered themselves on the Co-WIN portal for phase 3 of the vaccination.

File Photo

New Delhi: Amid the raging second wave of the coronavirus, several states and UTs will start inoculating those above 18 years of age from Saturday (May 1, 2021). Phase 3 of the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive has been extended to ensure that maximum numbers of Indians take the coronavirus vaccine as the country is witnessing a record number of new cases.

Second only to the United States in the total number of infections, India has reported over 3,00,000 new cases daily for nine days in a row now. The country hit another global record of 3,86,452 on Friday.

More than 2.45 crore beneficiaries have registered themselves on the Co-WIN portal for phase 3 of the vaccination as of Friday morning. While more than 1.37 crore registered themselves on the first day of registration on April 28, over 1.04 crore people registered on April 29.

However, this is to be noted that several states and UTs including Maharashtra and Delhi have reported a massive shortage of vaccines. 

On the other hand, the Government of India on Friday stated that more than 1 crore coronavirus vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered. They also said that nearly 20 lakh vaccine doses will also be received in addition by the states and UTs within the next three days.

They have so far provided 16.33 crore vaccine doses to states and UTs free of cost, as per the data from on Friday morning.

Phase-I was launched on January 16, 2021, which prioritized the protection of the Health Care Workers (HCWs) and Front Line Workers (FLWs). 

Subsequently, phase-II was initiated from March 1 and April 1, which focused on protecting the most vulnerable, ie, everyone above 45 years of age. 

In India, the Emergency Use Authorisation has so far been granted to two indigenously manufactured vaccines - COVISHEILD of Serum Institute of India and COVAXIN of Bharat Biotech, On the other hand, a third vaccine, Sputnik, which is presently manufactured abroad, will eventually be manufactured in India.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that the total vaccination across the country has crossed 15.48 crore. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India stands at 15,48,54,096.