New Delhi:From Tuesday onwards, Covid-19 vaccine doses provided free of cost by the Central government to states and the Union Territories (UTs) will be allocated based on criteria such as population, disease burden and the progress of vaccination. These elements were included in the fresh guidelines for implementation of the National Covid vaccination programme. The revised guidelines will come into effect from June 21 this year and will be reviewed from time to time.
In the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Thursday, it is clarified that "wastage of vaccine will affect the allocation negatively". However, it is stressed that vaccination will be prioritized to Health Care Workers, Front Line Workers, citizens more than 45 years of age, citizens whose second dose has become due and citizens 18 years and above. Within the population group of citizens more than 18 years of age, the guidelines mentioned, states and the UTs may decide their prioritization factoring in the vaccine supply schedule.
Read:|Centre to procure 75 pc Covid vaccines from manufactures under revised guidelines
The new guidelines came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared free vaccines to all aged above 18 years of age from June 21 with the Centre providing free vaccine doses to all states and UTs. Among the main pointers of the guidelines, it is mentioned that the government of India will procure 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the manufacturers in the country. The vaccines procured will continue to be provided free of cost to states and the UTs as has been the case from the commencement of the national vaccination programme. These doses will be administered by the states and the UTs free of cost to all citizens as per priority through government vaccination centres.
The Central government will provide states and UTs advance information of vaccine doses to be supplied to them, said the guideline, adding "states or UTs should similarly, further allocate doses well in advance to districts and vaccination centres". "They should also put in the public domain the information about the above availability at district and vaccination centre level, and widely disseminate it among the local population, maximizing the visibility and convenience of citizens."
To incentivize production by vaccine manufacturers and encourage new vaccines, domestic vaccine manufacturers are given the option to also provide vaccines directly to private hospitals. "This would be restricted to 25 per cent of their monthly production. States and UTs would aggregate the demand of private hospitals keeping in view equitable distribution between large and small private hospitals and regional balance."
Read:|All people should get free Covid-19 vaccines under new policy: PM Modi