Thiruvananthapuram: All persons aged between 40 and 44 will be administered COVID-19 vaccines without priority considerations, Health Minister Veena George has announced.

Those completing 40 years of age or above on January 1, 2022 will be eligible for the vaccines, the minister said, adding that the current norms will remain unchanged for those aged 45 and older.

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Slots will be allotted to the 40-44 age group based on vaccine availability, once they register themselves on the CoWIN portal (www.cowin.gov.in) and fix an appointment. Spot booking would not be allowed for this age group.

A respite from vaccine shortage, meanwhile, saw the number of vaccinations going up. An average of 1.5 doses were being administered daily over the past four days. The number of vaccination centres, too, have been increased. The vaccines were provided at 1060 centres on Friday.

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Kerala has, so far, provided 98.38 lakh doses, with 77.19 lakh people getting the first dose, and 21.1 lakh , the second dose. The State currently has a stock of 12.04 doses, including 6.55 lakh from the Central share, and 5.48 lakh the State has set aside for adults aged 44 and below.

The State reported 16,229 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. The test positivity rate was 14.82 per cent.  

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