RNS: All individuals over the age of 18 are entitled to get a May 1 coronavirus vaccine, the Central Government announced on Monday.
The decision was taken in a meeting lead by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with doctors across the country and top pharma companies.
In this phase, the vaccination will continue as before in Government of India vaccination centres free of cost to the eligible population, including Health Care Workers, Front Line Workers and all people above 45 years of age.
During this phase, vaccine manufacturers will supply 50 per cent of their monthly released doses to Central Government. They will be free to supply the remaining 50 per cent doses to States and the open market.
The manufacturers will transparently make an advance declaration of the Vaccine price that will be available to State Governments and in the open market.
Private Hospitals will have to procure their supplies of Covid-19 vaccine exclusively from the 50 per cent supply earmarked for other than the Government of India channel.
Speaking on the occasion, PM said that the Government has been working hard for over a year to ensure that maximum numbers of Indians are able to get the vaccine in the shortest time. He added that India is vaccinating people at a world record pace, and the country will continue this with even greater momentum.
The central Government, from its share, will allocate vaccines to States and UTs based on the criteria of the extent of infection and the speed of administration.
All vaccination will be part of the National Vaccination Programme and mandated to follow all protocol such as being captured on CoWIN platform.
