The Government of India has again changed the Covid-19 vaccination policy. Now instead of the states, the central government will buy all the vaccines made in India. Till now, the states had to get 25% of the vaccine from the open market. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Monday evening also announced free vaccination. He said that from June 21, the government will vaccinate every person above the age of 18 years free of cost. However, for the vaccine in private hospitals, the price will have to be paid as before.
The old method will remain the same. Doses will be allotted on the basis of active caseload, the performance of the vaccine, and wastage. In the 18-44 age group also, if the state government wants to form a priority group, then it can.
States were given the freedom to buy the vaccine from May 1. But many state governments said that vaccine companies are not directly dealing with them. This had a significant impact on the speed of vaccination. The Chief Ministers of many states, including many leaders of the opposition, demanded that the Government of India should procure the vaccine and give it to the states. Before May 1, there was the same arrangement that is going to happen now.
The central government has tied up with Bharat Biotech (BB) and Serum Institute of India (SII) for the vaccine. Both Covishield and Covaxin vaccines are bought by the central government at Rs 150 per dose.
The vaccine will be available at all government and private COVID-19 vaccination centers. The difference will be that you will get the vaccine for free at government centers, regardless of age group above 18+ whereas you will have to pay a price for the vaccine in private.
No. You can book slots after registering on CoWIN as before. If the vaccines are available at the nearest center, then you can go there directly to get the vaccine. Recently, the Center had given an exemption for walk-in registration to all people above 18+.
Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, costs a private hospital Rs 1,200 for a single dose, while SII's Covishield buys it at Rs 600 per dose. The central government has fixed the maximum service charge for applying the vaccine at Rs 150. That is, you will have to pay a maximum of Rs 750 for Covishied and a maximum of Rs 1,350 for Covaxin in private hospital premises.
There is a possibility that the central government may issue non-transferable electronic vouchers. Through this, economically backward people will be able to get vaccinated in private hospitals. This voucher can only be used by the person for whom it is issued. You can download it on mobile. The money will reach the vaccination center as soon as the e-voucher is scanned. Its status will also show on CoWIN.
Since the service charge limit fixed by the Center is for private hospitals. If there is a tie-up with a private hospital in any other place like company premises, society premises etc., then there are no clear guidelines on how much the hospital can charge. Recently, there have been reports of charging up to Rs 2,000 per dose for the vaccine in such places.
The central government will first tell the states how many doses they will get in which month. The states will have to inform the districts how many doses will be supplied there. PTI quoted Indian government sources as saying that from August to December, 133.6 crore doses would be supplied.
The priority is to vaccinate the older ones first. However, states can get the right to form priority groups in the age group of 18-44 also. That is if a state wants to give vaccines to the people of 30-44 years first and then to the people of 18-29 years then it will be able to do so.
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