Covid-19 vaccination: Government announces vaccination for all above 18

The government announced today that vaccinations will be widened to everyone above 18 in the next stage beginning May 1. The decision came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of meetings today.

All adults will be vaccinated in “a liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination”, the government said in a statement on a day India reported a new record high of 2.73 lakh cases in a day.

India began vaccinating people in January using two Covid vaccines – Serum Institute of India’s Covishield developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech’s made-in-India Covaxin. So far, the government had allowed vaccinations only for frontline workers and those above 45.

“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 possible of time,” PM Modi said.

The government said that pricing, procurement, eligibility and administering of vaccines will be flexible in the latest round of the world’s largest vaccination drive.

Vaccine manufacturers have been instructed to scale up their production and release up to 50 per cent of their supply to state governments and in the open market at a declared price.

States can now get additional vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers.

Key points in the liberalized vaccination rules:

• Vaccine manufacturers will supply 50 per cent of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) issued doses to the central government and will be free to supply the remaining 50% doses to state governments and in the open market.
• Producers will declare prices in advance for the vaccines supplied to state governments and in the open market.
• On the basis of this price, state governments, private hospitals, industrial establishments can buy vaccine doses from the manufacturers.
• Vaccinations at central government centres provided free of cost, will continue for previous categories – health workers, frontline workers and those above 45.
• The Centre will allot vaccines from its share to States or Union Territories based on the number of cases.
• Vaccine wastage can affect the quota of a state.
• The second dose for existing priority groups will be given preference.