Free COVID-19 Vaccination In India For All Adults Begins Today; From On-Site Registration to Vaccine Procurement Policy, Here's All You Need to Know

New Delhi, June 21: The free of cost COVID-19 vaccination drive for people aged 18 years or above has started in India from today, June 21. In this phase of the immunisation drive, all the adult population in the country will be provided free of charge vaccine against coronavirus by the central government. This step has been undertaken by the Narendra Modi-led centre to boost and speed up the vaccination drive. Notably, under the phase-3 of immunisation programme in India, which commenced on May 1 this year, the vaccination was opened up for people between the age group of 18-44 years. COVID-19 Vaccination in Andhra Pradesh: State Vaccinated Record Number of People on Sunday, Administers 11.85 Lakh Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine.

Starting from Monday, prior booking of slot on Co-WIN portal is no longer mandatory for getting vaccinated at the government or private vaccinated centre. People can go for on-site registration. Moreover, the centre will procure the COVID-19 vaccine and distribute them among various states and UTs, beginning today state governments have been relived of the burden to purchase the vaccines. The centre will procure 75 per cent of the total vaccines produced by the manufacturer and the remaining 25 per cent has been kept for the private entities. FAQs on COVID-19 Vaccination: Experts Answer Frequently Asked Questions About Vaccine and Inoculation.

Here is All You Need to Know About the Free of Cost COVID-19 Vaccination Drive That Commences Today:

• Coronavirus vaccines will be provided free of cost to all the people who are 18 years old or above across the country. The centre will bear all the cost for the same.
• The prior registration and booking of vaccination slot on Co-WIN portal is no longer mandatory at the government as well as private vaccination centres. People can go for on-site registration for the same.
• The central government will procure COVID-19 vaccines from the manufacturer and distribute them among the states and union territories . The allocation will be done depending on several factors such as population of the region, number of coronavirus patients, vaccination progress among others.
• The centre will buy 75 per cent of the total coronavirus vaccination output by the manufacturers. The remaining 25 per cent of the produce has been kept for the procurement by the private entities.
• Even though the vaccination is open for all citizens above the age of 18 years of age, it will be prioritised for the frontline and health workers, people above 44 years and those whose second coronavirus shot is pending, followed by the people aged 18 years and above.
• The service charge at the private vaccination centres has been capped at Rs 150 per dose over the fixed price of the vaccine. The vaccine's price will be announced by the manufacturer and any changes in the same will be notified prior.
• The state governments have been tasked to monitor the vaccination drive and can avail the facilities of Call Centres and Common Service Centres for helping the citizens with booking the vaccination slots.

Prices of COVID-19 Vaccines at the Private Hospital:

The centre has capped the maximum price a private hospital can charge for people for coronavirus vaccines. Accordingly, the price of Covishield, AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute in India, is fixed at Rs 780 per dose, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin at Rs 1,410 per dose and Russia's vaccine Sputnik V at Rs 1,145 per dose.

According to the data released by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, a total of 28,00,36,898 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus in the country so far. As many as 30,39,996 people were given the shot in the past 24 hours. In India the COVID-19 vaccination drive began on January 16 this year, with health care, frontline workers, people above the age of 50 years and those with comorbidities were offered the vaccine in the first phase.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 21, 2021 11:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).