PM Modi announced: “From 21 June, all adults over the age of 18 will be vaccinated [for] free,”.
“Whether it is the poor, the lower middle class, the middle class, or the upper middle class, under the central government programme, everyone will get free vaccines,” He said.
How has the policy changed?
Prime Minister Modi’s addressed the nation on TV, in which he talked about the history and logistics of vaccine programmes in India. This is where he made the announcement.
Under the earlier Covid vaccine policy, half of all vaccines produced in the country went to the federal government, and the rest went to state administrations and private hospitals.
But now the federal government will buy 75% of all vaccines manufactured. The state governments will receive their vaccines doses for free from the federal government, instead of negotiating directly with manufacturers.
The remaining 25%, however are still set aside for procurement by private hospitals as before. People will still have to pay for these at private hospitals.
The federal government has fixed prices for the three approved vaccines at 780 rupees for Covishield, 1,145 rupees for Sputnik V, and 1,410 rupees for Covaxin.
What does it mean in practice?
Now the state governments will receive their allocated vaccine doses from the federal government based on the population of those states, the level of disease, vaccination progress and vaccine wastage.
That relieves the state authorities of having to purchase doses from the manufacturer at higher prices than were offered to the federal government.
Supreme Court previously questioned the rationale behind making states pay more for vaccines than the federal government had to.
Public policy and systems expert Dr Chandrakant Lahariya says, “This is a step in the right direction and will streamline some procurement-related challenges.”
What does it mean for ordinary people?
“This announcement doesn’t change much for citizens,” says Dr Lahariya.
PM Modi previously said “the old system, in place before 1 May, will be implemented again.”
The original policy was changed in April, when India was hit by a dramatic surge in case numbers and India’s vaccine drive was faltering.
States were then allowed to bid for vaccines directly from manufacturers, which it was hoped would encourage other vaccine makers to enter the Indian market and boost supply.
But it didn’t work out like that, and shortages of vaccines began to emerge in a number of places as supply couldn’t keep up with demand.
We’ve looked in other pieces at the challenges that face Indian vaccine manufacturers in trying to ramp up production.
The Indian government has pledged to vaccinate all adults by the end of the year, a target many experts say would be difficult to meet at the current pace.
Source: bbc.com