New Delhi, Mar 3 (IANS): In a bid to speed up the pace of the coronavirus vaccination drive, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday announced that citizens will now be able to take vaccine round the clock as per their convenience.

The minister took to microblogging website Twitter and said: "The government has ended the time constraint to increase the speed of vaccination. Citizens of the country can now get vaccinated 24x7 at their convenience."

He emphasized that Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands the health of citizens of the country as well as the value of their time. Vardhan and his wife took the vaccine shot at Delhi Heart and Lung Institute on Tuesday.

The announcement comes a day after Centre directed all the states and union territories to utilize all private hospitals - empaneled under government insurance schemes in full capacity to achieve optimum number of vaccinations.

The nation-wide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers being inoculated against the virus. Vaccination of the frontline workers began on February 2.

The next phase of vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. A total of 1,56,20,749 vaccine doses have been given till now.