The Ministry of Health on Tuesday said anybody over the age of 18 can walk into their nearest vaccination centre to get themselves registered on the Co-WIN platform and get vaccinated against Covid-19.

The Centre said it was no longer compulsory to pre-register online or book an appointment to get the vaccine in a bid to increase the pace of vaccination and tackle the 'vaccine hesitancy' reported from rural areas.

“Pre-registration for vaccination through online registration and prior booking of appointment is not mandatory to avail the Covid-19 vaccine,” the health ministry said.

It added,” Anyone aged 18 years and above can directly go to the nearest vaccination centre wherein the vaccinator performs the on-site registration and provides vaccination.”

The Centre had said last week that vaccine hesitancy was "a globally accepted phenomenon and should be addressed by scientifically studying the issue at the community level".

During a press briefing on Tuesday, the Centre said that there has been an almost 85 per cent decline in daily Covid-19 cases since the highest reported peak on May 7 and currently, there are 20 states and UTs where active cases are less than 5,000.

On the Delta plus variant of Covid, the government said that it has been around since March and it is not yet a variant of concern'.

"We have to learn more about it and track its progress," it said.

During the second wave of the pandemic, the government said, about 11.62 per cent cases were seen in the below 20 years age group, while it was 11.31 per cent during the first wave.

It also said that a sharp decline of 78 per cent has been noted since the highest reported weekly Covid case positivity rate of 21.4 per cent, which was recorded between May 4 and 10 during the second wave.