Free Covid-19 vaccine for all above 18 years from June 21: PM Modi

The Centre has taken back control of vaccine procurement and will supply Covid-19 jabs to states free of cost to inoculate all above 18 years of age from June 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Monday.

“No state would have to spend anything on vaccines. The 25 per cent of the vaccination work that was with states will also be handled by the Government of India...Now, all above 18 will be able to get the shot for free,” Modi said.

Of the total vaccine availability, 75 per cent will be procured by the Centre and the remaining 25 per cent will continue to be available for private hospitals.

State governments will monitor that private hospitals are not charging more than Rs 150 a dose as service charge over the fixed price of a vaccine, he said. Detailed guidelines in this regard will be prepared by the central and state governments, he added.

The government will share in advance the supply schedule with states, Modi said, talking about the revised policy.

Modi also cautioned people against any laxity and asserted that Covid-appropriate protocol was the "most effective weapon" against coronavirus. "In many places, relaxations are being given in corona curfew, but it does not mean that coronavirus has gone away. We have to remain cautious and also have to follow Covid protocols strictly. I am confident that we will win this battle," he said.

Industry representatives said the revised policy would ensure an equitable allocation of vaccines in states. “The centralisation of procurement will ensure the uniformity of procurement prices and create bandwidth among states to manage the inoculation of their adult populations,” said T V Narendran, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Earlier, the government had announced a liberalised vaccine policy from May 1 to allow states and private hospitals to procure vaccines directly from manufacturers, accessing only 50 per cent of the available stocks. Prices of vaccines were also different for the Centre (Rs 150 a dose) and states (between Rs 300 and Rs 600). The dual pricing policy was questioned by the Supreme Court.

In a virtual address on Monday, the PM said the existing policy had been brought after several states demanded that vaccine work be decentralised. “We thought if states wanted to make efforts, then why should the Centre have any problem? So we handed over 25 per cent of the work to states,” he said.

He said that two weeks after the liberalised policy was introduced, states realised the challenges of acquiring vaccines and the global shortage of doses. “Many states started saying openly that the older system was better and came forward to demand that we rethink this policy,” he said.

The Supreme Court had recently pulled up the Centre for leaving states with very little bargaining power by prefixing quantity and the price. It had asked the Centre why it could not buy 100 per cent of the vaccines at a discount instead of leaving states to fend for themselves. “You are asking the states to pick up and compete with each other,” the SC Bench had said.

The top court had also called the government’s paid vaccination policy for the 18-44 age group arbitrary and irrational.

Modi assured that the government would increase the pace of procurement and the vaccination drive in the country. “India’s vaccination numbers are better than many in the developed world. Our technology platform is being talked about and many countries have shown interest in it,” he added.

A little over 13 per cent of India’s population has received at least one dose so far.

Seven companies are producing different types of Covid vaccines and trials of three more are in advanced stages.

India started its Covid vaccination drive on January 16, prioritising doses for health workers and thereafter frontline workers. It had opened vaccinations for those above 60 and over 45 with comorbidities next. All this while, vaccines were being procured by the Centre and being given to states.

Elaborating on the reasons why the liberalised policy was brought, the PM said that as corona cases started declining, questions arose about the lack of choice for states and some people questioned why the central government was deciding everything.