The Centre on Wednesday announced that people over 60 years and those above 45 with comorbidities can get COVID-19 vaccine from March 1 even as it cautioned states and union territories that any laxity in implementing stringent curbs, especially in view of new virus strain observed in certain countries, could "compound the situation".

As new coronavirus cases crossed the 13,000 mark for the third time in six days on Wednesday, the Centre rushed multi-disciplinary teams to nine states and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir most of whom are witnessing a surge to support them in effectively tackling the pandemic.

The nine states are Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. COVID-19 cases rose sharply in Maharashtra with the state reporting 8,807 new infections, taking its total count to 21,21,119, the state health department said. The western state had reported 6,218 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

A decision on the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The vaccine will be offered free at government facilities and for a charge at many private hospitals, it was stated.