People can get vaccinated against Covid-19 24x7, says Harsh Vardhan

The government has lifted the time restriction on receiving Covid-19 vaccine jabs so as to increase the pace of immunisation, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday.
 
“The government has lifted the time restriction to increase the speed of vaccination. People can now get vaccinated 24x7 according to their convenience. Prime Min­­ister Narendra Modi un­d­­e­rstands the value of health as well as the time of citizens,” Vardhan tweeted. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a press conference on Tuesday that the timeline of vaccinating the beneficiaries from 9 am to 5 pm has been done away with.
 
“Co-WIN 2.0 does not provide 9 am-5 pm vaccination sessions... If a hospital has the capacity, the system permits it to do vaccination even after 5 pm in consultation with the state government,” he said.
 
Infosys, Accenture to cover vaccination costs
 
Infosys and Accenture said on Wednesday they would cover vaccination costs for their employees in India, as the country expands its massive vaccination drive.
 
“Infosys is looking at partnering with health care providers to vaccinate employees and their immediate families as eligible,” Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao said in an emailed statement. For Acc­e­nture, costs for employees and dependents who are eligible and choose to receive the vaccination will be covered, the company said.
 
India's vaccination campaign ramped up on Monday, with people above the age of 60, and individuals 45 or older suffering from certain medical conditions, now eligible for shots.
 
The second dose of the vaccine started being administered from February 13 for those who have completed 28 days since the receipt of the first dose. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2.
 
The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
 
More than 1.56 crore (1,56,20,749) vaccine doses were administered in the country through 3,12,188 sessions, according to a provisional report till Wednesday 7 am.
 
The beneficiaries include 67,42,187 healthcare workers (first dose), 27,13,144 HCWs (second dose), 55,70,230 FLWs (first dose), 834 FLWs (second dose), 71,896 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (first dose) and 5,22,458 beneficiaries aged above 60 years.