Covid-19 vaccination in India: The government on Tuesday released revised suggestions for Covid-19 vaccination in the nation, a day soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced no cost vaccination for all above 18 years.
According to the revised suggestions, the central government will procure 75 % of Covid-19 vaccine doses from vaccine producers, like the 25 % state quota, and will provide it to states/UTs for no cost. PM Modi in his address to the nation yesterday had mentioned no state government will have to invest on vaccine procurement.
But, the allocation of vaccine doses to states/UTs will be decided by taking into consideration of elements like population, caseload, and vaccine wastage. “Vaccine doses provided free of cost by the Government of India will be allocated to States/UTs based on criteria such as population, disease burden, and the progress of vaccination. Wastage of vaccine will affect the allocation negatively,” says the government notification as reported by The Indian Express.
Indian vaccine producers will get the choice to provide Covid-19 vaccine doses straight to private hospitals. The government has also capped service charges of private hospitals at Rs 150 for the Covid-19 vaccination. Centre in advance will notify states/UTs of how several doses will be supplied. It has asked states/UTs to allocate doses effectively in advance to districts/vaccination centres. “They should also put in the public domain the information about the above availability at district and vaccination center level,” the revised suggestions study.
According to the revised suggestions, the vaccination will be prioritised and will be administered to healthcare workers very first, followed by frontline workers, citizens more than 45 years of age, citizens whose second dose is due, and then to these above 18 years of age.
As per the revised guidelines, all citizens, irrespective of their earnings status, are eligible for a no cost vaccination. Those who have the potential to spend are encouraged to use private hospital’s vaccination centres, the government has mentioned.