Amid Covid surge, Centre says vaccination to be offered on all days of Apr

The Centre has written to all states and UTs and asked them to make necessary arrangements to provide Covid vaccination on all days including gazetted holidays during April

The union government on Thursday said that vaccination against coronavirus will be offered on all days in the month of April at both public and private sector vaccination centres.

In a significant step to exponentially expand the nationwide vaccination drive, the Centre has written to all states and UTs and asked them to make necessary arrangements to provide vaccination on all days including gazetted holidays during April.

"This step has been taken after detailed deliberations with the states and UTs on March 31, 2021 to optimally utilise all Covid vaccination centres across the public and private sectors to ensure rapid increase in the pace and coverage," the government said in a release.

"This decision is in line with the graded and pro-active approach employed by the government along with the states for Covid-19 vaccination," it said

The government said that vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from Covid-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level.

The government had earlier decided to start vaccination of all people above 45 years of age from April 1, 2021 based on the recommendation of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration (NEGVAC).

On Thursday, India recorded a massive surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, reporting 72,330 cases in the last 24 hours. 

With the latest addition, the country's tally has soared to 12,221,665, according to the government. The active cases have hit 584,055, and India is now the fifth-worst hit country. The death toll from the deadly infection jumped to 162,960.