As India gears up for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from 1 March and registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal will open at 9 am on Monday.

Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination, anytime and anywhere, using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu.

Registration will open at 9 am on 1 March at www.cowin.gov.in, the ministry said.

All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 or more as of 1 January, 2022 are eligible to register, in addition to all such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 to 59 years as of 1 January, 2022, and have any of the specified 20 comorbidities.

The centre has specified 20 comorbidities among people between 45 and 59 years who will get the vaccine. For example, heart failure with hospital admission in the past year. The COVID-19 vaccine will be given for free at government hospitals, while people will need to pay for it at private facilities.

This information was shared during the orientation workshop organised by the Union Health Ministry and the National Health Authority (NHA) for the 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, more than 600 hospitals empanelled under CGHS and other private hospitals empanelled under State Government's Health Insurance Schemes, on Co-WIN2.0.

The health ministry also released a user manual for citizen registration and appointment for vaccination.

"The exemplary groundwork and precaution advisory by the government has helped in containing the spread of the virus in our country," the centre said in the introduction to the user manual.