Covid-19: India begins vaccination drive for 18+ from today despite chronic vaccine shortage; all you need to know | India News – Times of India

0
526

[google-translator]

NEW DELHI: The vaccination drive for those 18 years and above began in India from Saturday, as the country continues to battle the second wave of Covid-19.
This comes after the Centre on April 19 had announced a ‘liberalised’ policy in order to ramp up the coronavirus vaccination drive in the country and made all above 18 years of age eligible to get vaccinated from May 1.
However, some states have flagged the shortage of vaccines and expressed their inability to start vaccination of people above 18 years from today.
Here’s all you need to know about the coronavirus vaccination drive Phase 3-
As per the health ministry, more than 2.45 crore beneficiaries register themselves on CoWin portal till 9.30pm on Friday.
Due to the delay in procurement of vaccines leading to a shortage, several states have said they won’t be able to kick off the drive today.
Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Goa and Chhattisgarh are among the states that said they’re running low on vaccine stocks.

States that have announced inoculation drive in selected districts-

  • The Odisha government announced the start of vaccination from Saturday after it received a consignment of 1.5 lakh doses of Covaxin on Friday evening.
  • In Uttar Pradesh, another worst affected state in the country, the drive started in only seven of the total 75 districts. The health department officials earlier said the drive will take place only in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Bareilly initially.
  • Gujarat is among the few states to have said they would do so, with chief minister Vijay Rupani saying on Friday that vaccinations for over-18s would happen only in the 10 worst-hit districts.

  • Chhattisgarh health minister TS Singh Deo said that the state will start the vaccination from the poorest people who have Antyodaya ration card or BPL card due to shortage of vaccine.
  • Rajasthan will start the drive in only three of the 33 districts — Ajmer, Jaipur and Jodhpur — and was expecting three lakh vaccine doses by Friday midnight.

States that will not be able to vaccinate 18+ from today-

  • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday appealed to residents of the national capital not to queue up at vaccination centres as vaccines have not yet been received.
  • West Bengal government on Friday said the vaccination drive for those between 18 to 44 years of age will begin as and when the state receives the vaccine doses. It added that vaccination of those above 45 years will continue.
  • Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar yesterday urged the people of the state aged between 18-44 years to “refrain from going to hospitals” on Saturday, saying that the state has not received the required Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII).

  • Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Friday also said that the state government will start a nominal vaccination drive on May 1 as chief minister Uddhav Thackeray believes that vaccination for those between 18 and 44 must start vaccination from May 1.
  • The Tamil Nadu government also deferred its roll out the massive vaccination drive for the 18-44 years age group on May 1 as originally planned. However, some private hospitals like Apollo have said that they will roll out the vaccination drive for 18-plus.
  • The vaccination drive against Covid-19 for people aged 18 to 45 will be not be beginning from May 1 in Madhya Pradesh as vaccines are not available, CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan informed on Thursday. The chief minister said the state government had spoken to both the country’s Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers – Serum Institue of India and Bharat Biotech, and were informed that they would not be able to provide doses of the vaccine.

  • Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy said that there appears a huge gap between demand and supply of vaccines in the country and it would not be possible to provide vaccination for those aged between 18 and 44 years beginning May 1, and hence they will have to wait at least till August or September.
  • Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has asked people in the 18 to 45 age group not to visit vaccination centres on Saturday as the government is yet to receive a new lot of vaccines. He said that the government will inform well in advance as to when the vaccination drive will commence for this age group and the procedure for registration thereon.

  • Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed on Twitter that Centre had committed to provide five lakh vaccine doses for the 18-44 age group. However, considering the uncertainty about the date of arrival of the first consignment of vaccines, it is unlikely that the drive would start on May 1 as scheduled earlier, top health officials told TOI.
  • Telangana has stopped the vaccination drive for two days (May 1 and 2) at government centres even for people aged 45 years and above because of vaccine shortage.

Centre vs sates
Dr Harsh Vardhan in a tweet on Friday evening said that the centre has provided “more than 16.33 crore Covid vaccine doses to states and union territories for free,” stressing on the point that “more than 1 crore doses are still available in stick with them”. Of this, “the total consumption including wastages is 15,33,56,503 doses”, an official statement said.

Where can you register for the vaccination?
All eligible citizens can register online and book an appointment through the Co-Win portal. You may visit – https://www.CoWin.gov.in/home
How to register for the Covid-19 vaccination drive?

What documents are required for the registration of eligible beneficiary?
Any of the below-mentioned ID with photo may be produced at the time of registration:

  • Aadhaar Card
  • Driving License
  • Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour
  • Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Job Card
  • Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs
  • PAN Card
  • Passbooks issued by Bank/Post Office
  • Passport
  • Pension Document
  • Service Identity Card issued to employees by Central/ State Govt./ Public Limited Companies
  • Voter ID

How will the beneficiary receive information about due date of vaccination?
Following online registration, the beneficiary will receive SMS on their registered mobile number about the due date, place and time of vaccination.
Vaccination drive in India
Less than two months ago the health minister said India was in the “end game” of the pandemic as India sent millions of vaccines to dozens of countries.
India had started the Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 with two vaccines — Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India) and Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited).
The second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive to inoculate people above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities against the coronavirus began on March 1. The third phase began on April 1 for all above 45 years of age.
Covid vaccines in India
Serum Institute of India is making 60-70 million AstraZeneca doses per month and is aiming for 100 million by July. Bharat Biotech is aiming to produce 10 million a month and targets 60-70 million.
Indian firms also have deals to produce other shots including Russia’s Sputnik V — some doses of which were due to arrive soon — and Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, but it could be months until these are deployed.
The first batch of Sputnik V was due to arrive on Saturday. Another 125 million doses of Sputnik V will be distributed by India’s pharmaceutical company later this year.

Covid-19 vaccine cost in India
So far, government vaccines have been free, and private hospitals have been permitted to sell shots at a price capped at Rs 250.
That practice will now change: Prices for state governments and private hospitals will be determined by vaccine companies. Some states might not be able to provide vaccines for free since they are paying twice as much as the Centre for the same shot, and prices at private hospitals could rise.
The central government is buying shots at Rs 150 each. The Serum Institute will sell the shots to states at Rs 300 each, and to private players at Rs 600 each. Bharat Biotech said it will charge states Rs 400 for a shot, and private players 1,200 rupees.
By comparison, the European Union paid $2.15 per dose for the AstraZeneca vaccine. The company says that price is discounted because the EU contributed to the vaccine’s development.
(With inputs from agencies)

Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here