Apollo hospital confirms COVID-19 vaccine rollout for 18-44 age group from May 1

While the Centre will continue vaccinating those aged above 45 years, those aged between 18 and 44 years will have to wait for free vaccination for now. They can visit private vaccination centres and get the COVID-19 vaccine jab after registering through CoWin app.

Moneycontrol News

April 30, 2021 / 09:46 PM IST

Representative image.

Apollo Hospital confirmed on April 30 that it will start vaccinating beneficiaries aged 18 to 44 years from May 1 at limited centres across the country. The private hospitals will be among the first to begin vaccinating citizens aged above 18 years.

Covishield shots will be available at Apollo, the hospital authorities have said.

The Apollo group said: “Realising the criticality of vaccinating the citizens to mitigate the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 infections, Apollo Hospitals has taken the initiative and made arrangements to procure the vaccines directly from the manufacturers, as per the government directive.”

From May 1, 2021, the third phase of India’s coronavirus vaccination drive is beginning, under which all persons aged above 18 will be eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

COVID-19 Vaccine | No walk-in facilities, CoWin registration must for beneficiaries aged 18-45 yrs

However, several states have announced that they will not be able to start vaccinating all persons aged above 18 years due to a shortage of vaccine supply.

While the Centre will continue vaccinating those aged above 45 years, those aged between 18 and 44 years will have to wait for free vaccination for now. They can visit private vaccination centres and get the COVID-19 vaccine jab after registering through CoWin app.

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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