The Kerala government has issued orders making COVID-19 vaccination open for all persons above 18 years in the State, in accordance with the new guidelines for implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program issued by the Union Health Ministry.
However, the priority accorded to various age groups for vaccination identified by the State government will continue to be in place.
The new Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) guidelines came into effect since June 21, with the Centre deciding to supply vaccines to all States free of cost across all age categories.
Beneficiaries should register on the CoWin portal and secure vaccination slots before going to inoculation centres, a statement issued by the Health Department said. Vaccination would be augmented as and when the State receives more shots.
31.54% vaccinated
Kerala has so far administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 31.54% of the population, while 8.96% of the population has received the second dose. A total of 1,35,31,561 vaccine doses have been administered in the State.
The Health Minister informed that the State has received 1,56,650 more doses of Covishield vaccine from the Centre.
With this, the State has received a total of 1,30,38,940 doses of vaccines, of which 13,42,540 doses were procured by the State directly from vaccine manufacturers, while the rest (1,16,96,400 doses) was provided by the Centre.
Six districts – Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode — have administered 10 lakh doses of vaccine each.
