Vaccine registration for those above 18 to open from Saturday on CoWin portal

NEW DELHI: The registration for getting the COVID-19 vaccine shot for all those above 18 years of age will open from Saturday on the CoWin portal, it emerged on Thursday.

The Government of India had recently announced the beginning of phase 3 of the mass vaccination drive in the country amidst the steep spike in COVID-19 cases. All citizens aged above 18 will now be eligible for vaccination starting May 1.

MyGovIndia has tweeted that phase 3 will begin on May 1, and registrations for vaccination will begin soon through the CoWIN platform and the Aarogya Setu app. 

Earlier, only citizens above the age of 45 were allowed to take the vaccine. Users need to register for the vaccine online before heading to the hospitals and getting their first shot. 

There is no app for the CoWIN site, and registrations can only be done through the website.

The government is likely to open up registrations before May 1, in order to get the ball rolling beforehand.

Co-WIN is a platform for the citizens of India to Register for COVID-19 vaccination and schedule their vaccination slots at the nearest vaccination centers.

India reported 3,14,835 fresh coronavirus infections, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,59,30,965 on Thursday (April 22), as per data by the Health Ministry. 

The country's total COVID-19 caseload has now increased to 1.59 crore (1,59,30,965), of which, 22.91 lakh (22,91,428) are active cases. India has also witnessed 1.84 lakh (1,84,657) coronavirus-related deaths.

The five most affected states by the total COVID-19 cases are Maharashtra (4,027,827), Kerala (1,197,301), Karnataka (1,109,650), Tamil Nadu (962,935), and Andhra Pradesh (942,135).