Vaccination to be done on all days of April at all public and private COVID19 vaccination centres, including gazetted holidays

New Delhi: COVID-19 vaccination will be carried out at both public and private sector Vaccination Centres (CVCs) on all days of April, including gazetted holidays, the central government informed on Thursday.

The Centre has also written to all states and union territories (UTs) and asked them to make necessary arrangements to provide for vaccination at the CVCs on all days of the month.

“This step has been taken after detailed deliberations with the states/UTs on March 31 to optimally utilise all COVID-19 vaccination centres across the public and private sectors to ensure a rapid increase in the pace and coverage of the vaccination,” read an official statement.

“This decision is in line with the graded and pro-active approach employed by the Indian government,” it added.

India started COVID-19 vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with two vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin. In the first phase, healthcare workers were administered the vaccine. The vaccination of the Frontline Workers (FLWs) started on February 2.

The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The third phase of the vaccination drive for all above 45 years began from Thursday morning across the country.

More than six crore people have been vaccinated till now across the country.

India has been witnessing a second wave of COVID-19 and reported over 70,000 new infections in the last 24 hours.