The government stated in its amended rules on Tuesday that Covid-19 vaccine doses given free of charge by the Centre will henceforth be given to states and union territories based on parameters such as population, disease burden, and immunization progress. It also cautioned that squandering shots would have a detrimental impact on allocation.
This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that beginning June 21, the central government will distribute free coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccinations to all people in all states.
There has been a rift between the Centre and some of the states over vaccine wastage. A health ministry data in May mentioned the amount of wastage of vials by each state — Jharkhand (nearly 37%), Chhattisgarh (30%), Tamil Nadu (15.5%), Jammu and Kashmir (10.8%), and Madhya Pradesh (10.7%). It said that these states are reporting much higher wattage than the national average (6.3%), leading Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren to dub the data as “laughable”.
New Guidelines in Detail:
• Within the population group of citizens more than 18 years of age, states/UTs may decide their own prioritization factoring in the vaccine supply schedule. Several states had been demanding this leverage of being given an option to decide priority group within the eligibility age groups.
• The price of vaccine doses for private hospitals would be declared by each vaccine manufacturer, and any subsequent changes would be notified in advance. The private hospitals may charge up to a maximum of Rupees 150 per dose as service charges. State governments may monitor the price being so charged.
