Foreign nationals residing in India can now get COVID-19 vaccine here

The Union government on August 9, Monday, August 9, decided to allow foreign nationals residing in India to get registered on the CoWin portal to take the COVID-19 vaccine. They can use their passport as an identification document for the purpose of registration on the CoWIN portal. Once they are registered on this portal, they will get a slot for vaccination. “A significant number of foreign nationals are living in India, especially in large metropolitan areas. In these areas, the potential of spread of COVID-19 is high due to higher population density. To counter any possibility of such occurrence, it is important to vaccinate all eligible persons,” a note issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said.

The government said this drive will ensure the safety of foreign nationals residing in India. “It will also bring down the possibilities of further transfer of infection from unvaccinated persons residing in India. It will also ensure overall safety from further transmission of COVID-19 virus,” PIB added.

The vaccination programme in its current phase covers all citizens aged 18 years and above. As on August 9, 2021, India has administered more than 51 crore vaccine doses across the country. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21. More than 49 lakh (49,06,273) vaccine doses have been administered on August 7, as per the 7 pm provisional report.  

Five states namely Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than 1 crore cumulative doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the age group 18-44 years. Also, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have vaccinated more than 10 lakh beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group with the first dose of COVID-19vaccine.

Meanwhile on August 7, the Union government had given Johnson & Johnson an emergency use authorisation (EUA) for a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. With this, India has five vaccines which have got EUA.