Apollo, Fortis to Begin Vaccinating Those Above 18 From 1 May

This comes when several states have expressed their inability to roll out the 3rd phase of vaccination immediately.

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(Photo: Shruti Mathur /TheQuint) 

The Apollo Hospitals Group and Fortis Healthcare said on Friday, 30 April, that they would begin vaccinating those between 18 and 44 years from Saturday, 1 May.

WHAT DID THEY SAY?

"Realising the criticality of vaccinating the citizens to mitigate the impact of the second wave of COVID infections, Apollo Hospitals has taken the initiative and made arrangements to procure the vaccines directly from the manufacturers, as per the Government directives," the Apollo Hospitals Group said in a press release.

"Apollo Hospitals will be among the first within the Indian private hospitals to begin COVID vaccinations in the third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive after the Central Government's opening up (of) vaccinations to all citizens above the age of 18. As per the Government guidelines, the vaccines will be administered to eligible individuals who have registered on the CoWIN app and have made an appointment for the vaccine jab at Apollo Hospitals. The vaccination program will begin with limited quantities and be ramped up in the weeks ahead. Apollo Hospitals will also be organising special camps for corporates. The vaccines would be priced as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government," the statement went on to say.

Meanwhile, Fortis said it would administer vaccines for those above 18 at its centres across North India from Saturday. "Fortis centres in other cities will commence vaccination as soon as supplies are made available by the authorities," it said.

VACCINATIONS AMID DEADLY SECOND WAVE

The announcement comes at a time when several states have expressed their inability to roll out the third phase of COVID vaccination immediately due to the unavailability of doses and necessary infrastructure.

Registrations for vaccination of citizens above 18 began on 28 April.

According to NDTV, Max Hospitals also said they are preparing to launch vaccinations for those above 18 from Saturday.

The commencement of the third phase of vaccination comes as India deals with a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with record daily cases and deaths, and a massive shortage of hospital beds, medical oxygen and medicines. On Friday, the country reported 3,86,452 new COVID-19 cases and 3,498 deaths.