Phase-2 Covid jabs to begin from March 1
President, Prime Minister, Cabinet CMs are expected to be vaccinated
NEW DELHI, FEB. 24
After the vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase, it is now time for the general public to get the
Covid-19 jab. From March 1, people over the age of 60 years and those over 45 years having comorbidities will be able to get vaccinated at
10,000 government facilities and over
20,000 private hospitals, the government said on Wednesday while announcing its plan to roll out the second phase of immunisation against the Coronavirus. The President, Prime Minister, several Cabinet minister and state Chief Ministers are expected to take the jab from March 1.
The number of beneficiaries in this category is expected to be over 10 crore. The vaccine shots will be given free of cost in government hospitals but they will be charged for in private hospitals. Announcing the decision taken by the Union cabinet on Wednesday, Union minister for information and broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, said that vaccine rates in the private sector are still being worked out by the health ministry in consultation with the private hospitals and manufacturers and will be announced in a couple of days.
“The second phase of the world’s largest vaccination drive will begin from Monday in which anybody above 60 years and 45 years plus with comorbidities will be given vaccines in
10,000 government and over 20,000 private hospitals. Whoever goes to the government centre will be administered a vaccine free of cost. The Indian government will pay for them. Those who want to get vaccination from private hospitals will have to pay,” Javadekar said. The minister, however, did not elaborate if people will have a choice of vaccines. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said most of the ministers are thinking of paying for the vaccines.
Meanwhile, with
Covid-19 cases surging in several states, the Centre on Wednesday deputed high-level, multi-disciplinary teams to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir for supporting them in public health measures for targeted Covid response and management, and effectively tackling the pandemic.
These teams will work closely with state and UT administrations to ascertain reasons for the recent surge in the number of Covid-19 cases. They will also coordinate with health authorities of the states and UT for requisite
Covid-19 control measures to break the chain of transmission.
States and UTs have been advised to regularly review the emerging situation with the concerned district officials to ensure that gains made so far in Covid management are not lost, Union health ministry officials said.
Union health secretary has also written to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir which have been witnessing a rise in daily Covid cases, along with decreasing proportion of RT-PCR tests. The health secretary has urged states/UT to focus on undertaking aggressive measures to break the chain of transmission and to ensure that RT-PCR testing is amplified to flush out undetected cases.
“These states/UTs have been advised to increase testing in a focussed manner in the affected districts with the appropriate split of RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests and to also ensure that all symptomatic negatives of antigen tests are compulsorily tested via RT-PCR tests. The positive persons must be promptly isolated/hospitalised, all their close contacts be traced and also tested without delay,” officials said.
The letter also mentioned that any laxity in implementing stringent measures to curb the spread, especially in view of new strains of virus observed in certain countries, could compound the situation.
Post-Covid, non-resident Indians prefer to buy luxury homes rather than affordable or mid-segment homes.
As per Anarock’s latest consumer survey, at least
73 per cent NRIs now prefer properties priced between Rs 90 lakh and Rs
2.5 crore. In the pre-Covid survey of H2 2019, just 41 per cent of NRIs had preferred properties within this price bracket. They had preferred affordable and mid-segment homes then.
“The pandemic has increased NRIs' emotional association of longterm security with physical assets as 63 per cent of the polled NRIs state this as their reason for buying homes,” said Prashant Thakur of Anarock Property Consultants.