Elderly people register themselves for COVID-19 vaccination in Mumbai, March 11. Pandemic-weary and sequestered mostly in their homes for a year, India’s elderly are now standing in long lines at vaccination sites, then rolling up their sleeves to get shots protecting them against the coronavirus. (Image: AP)

All Indians above 45 years of age can get the COVID-19 vaccine from April 1 as the country expands the inoculation drive to stem the recent spike in coronavirus infections.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had on March 23 said all individuals aged 45 and above will be allowed to get the COVID-19 vaccines from April 1. Earlier, only frontline workers, those above the age of 60 and those aged 45 with underlying health conditions could get any of the two vaccines—Covishield and Covaxin—approved by India.

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"It has been decided that from April 1, the (COVID-19) vaccine will open for everybody above 45 years of age. We request that all those eligible should immediately register and get vaccinated," Javadekar said.

This comes amid rising COVID-19 cases in India, which reported more than 72,330 cases on April 1. Several states had requested the Centre to widen the immunisation drive.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Everyone above 45 can now get COVID-19 vaccine, here is all you need to know

The beneficiaries can book appointments through the Co-WIN portal or can walk into a vaccination centre for the jab.

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