Days before the commencement of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive in India, the Union Health Ministry announced Tuesday all vaccine doses, 1.10 crore from Serum Insititute of India and 55 lakh from Bharat Biotech, will be given to all states and Union Territories by January 14. During a press briefing today, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that 38.5 lakh Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin doses will cost Rs 295 each (excluding taxes), adding that the company will be providing 16.5 lakh doses for free, bringing the price to Rs 206 each.
Responding to a question on whether states and Union territories will get to choose which vaccine they opt for, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said: “There is no such option available to any of the beneficiaries in any country.” This means people will not get to choose the vaccine they will be administered. They can get either of the two COVID-19 vaccines that have got emergency use approval in India – Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
Bhushan reiterated that the vaccines will be rolled out sequentially as there will be limited availability at first and added that healthcare workers (around 1 crore) will be the top priority, followed by frontline workers (approximately two crores) and prioritised age groups (numbering approximately 27 crores). Cost of health care workers and frontline workers will be borne by the Centre, he reiterated.
Speaking on the preparedness for the COVID-19 vaccination drive, Bhushan said, “All preparations are on track for COVID-19 vaccine roll out from January 16. A total of 26 virtual meetings/training were held with states/UTs, 2,360 master trainers, 61,000 programme managers, 2 lakh vaccinators, 3.7 lakh other vaccination team members have been trained so far.”
