New Delhi: The Central government on Tuesday decided to include all persons aged 45 years and above in the prioritised group for COVID-19 vaccination from April 1.
In a letter to the chief secretaries of the states and Union Territories, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated that the decision was taken on recommendation of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) which has been guiding all aspects of COVID-19 vaccination drive on the basis of available scientific evidence.
As per the recommendation, there will now be no need for a comorbidity certificate for people aged 45 years to 59 years, from April 1. The CoWIN software is also being suitably modified for doing away with the need for confirmation of comorbidities at the time of online registration and on-site registration or for uploading the comorbidity certificate at the time of vaccination. The registration on Co-Win would begin from April 1.
The Ministry told the states to direct the officials concerned to immediately undertake necessary measures for expansion of COVID-19 vaccination drive to include the new beneficiaries.