The passport of foreign nationals residing in India will be used as the identity document for registration on CoWIN portal to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced on August 9 that it has decided to allow foreign nationals residing in India to get registered on CoWin portal to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
A significant number of foreign nationals reside in India’s metropolitan areas, where the potential of COVID-19 spread is high due to higher population density, the ministry said in a release.
This is expected to ensure safety from COVID-19 to foreign nationals residing in India and bring down the possibilities of further transfer of infection from unvaccinated persons residing in India, it added.
To avail of the benefits, foreign nationals will have to use their passport as their identity document and register on the CoWIN portal. Once they are registered, a slot for vaccination against COVID-19 will be assigned to them.
India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive began on January 16, 2021, and 51 crore vaccine doses have since been administered across the country. The vaccination programme in its current phase covers all citizens aged 18 years and above.
Notably, India took 85 days to touch the figure of 10 crores. It then took 45 days to cross the 20 crore mark, 29 days more to reach 30 crores. The country took 24 days to reach 40 crores from 30 crores and then 20 more days to cross 50 crore vaccinations on August 6. In less than three days, one crore vaccine doses were administered in the country.
