Centre considering proposal to vaccinate all above 45 against Covid-19

Amid a second Covid-19 wave and demands from state authorities to remove restrictions, the Centre considering such a proposal

With India reporting nearly 36,000 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day rise in over 100 days, the Centre is considering a proposal to widen the vaccine net to include anyone above 45 years.

Currently, people in the 45-59 age bracket are eligible for the vaccine if they have certain chronic illnesses.

However, amid fears of a second nation-wide Covid-19 wave and demand from state authorities to widen the vaccine coverage, experts advising the Centre are considering whether such restrictions can be lifted provided there is enough supply of the vaccine from manufacturers.

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“Yes, a proposal (to vaccinate anyone above 45 years) is under our consideration in addition to coverage for elderly as well as those, who are not elderly but having comorbidities,” a member of the National Expert Group on Vaccination told DH.

Earlier NEGVAC chairman Vinod Paul stated that the Centre in future would further expand the circle of people eligible for vaccination. However, did not disclose any details.

Public Health specialists outside the government also agree on expanding the vaccination net. “It is better to widen the coverage by expanding based only on age criteria and removing all restrictions. For now, above 45 seems to be the reasonable age bracket,” commented Giridhar Babu, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India.

The NEGVAC is discussing the proposal at a time when Odisha wrote to the Centre seeking to include journalists, electricity, water supply and airport workers and priests of Lord Jagannath Temple and Lingaraj Temple in the frontline workers category and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed Delhi could vaccinate everyone above 18 in the next three months if the Union Health Ministry removes restrictive conditions.

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Earlier this week, Ludhiana district administration in Punjab allowed Covid-19 vaccination of bankers, judicial officers, employees of schools and food grain agencies, members of NGOs and journalists to ensure "safety of wider population in public interest."

Though the Centre planned to vaccinate one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers in the first two phases, so far 76 lakh healthcare workers have a single dose and 46 lakh completed the two-dose regimen.

However, progress among the frontline workers is slow as just about 77 lakh got the first dose whereas only 19 lakh have received both. Among senior citizens, 1.28 crore got the first dose whereas 24.5 lakh individuals in the age group of 45-59 years have been inoculated with the first dose of the vaccine.

India has registered an increase in the fresh Covid-19 cases for the eighth consecutive day. The single-day spike of 35,871 cases is the highest in 102 days. As many as 36,011 new infections were recorded on December 6. In the last 24 hours, as many as 172 new fatalities were recorded of which 84 were from Maharashtra and 35 from Punjab – the only state where the death rate in the second wave is bigger than what it was in the first wave.