Delhi to vaccinate above 18 for free: CM
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has said it will vaccinate all those above 18 years of age free of cost to bring the coronavirus situation in the city under control.
For this, the state government has approved the purchase of 1.34 crore vaccines.
The Arvind Kejriwal government has demanded uniform pricing of the vaccine from the Centre for the whole country.
It said the price at which the vaccine is being made available to the Centre, the same price should be fixed for all state governments.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “Corona has caused tremendous suffering all over the country. In view of this, the Delhi Government on Monday morning approved the purchase of one crore 34 lakh vaccines. This purchase will be done as soon as possible and all Delhi residents above 18 years of age will be vaccinated for free.”
Kejriwal added, “One manufacturing company has asked states to pay Rs 400 and another Rs 600 per dose. Whereas these companies are providing vaccines to the central government for Rs 150 only.”
The Chief Minister said that the vaccine should be made available to the State Governments at the same price it is being provided to the Central Government.
“I saw an interview with the owner of a vaccine manufacturing company, in which he says that even if he sells the vaccine for Rs150, he is making a profit. So in such a situation, these companies will earn manifold by selling the vaccine for Rs 400 and Rs 600,” he said.
Kejriwal said to save humanity, we appeal to these manufacturers to provide vaccine to the states for Rs150. If needed, the central government should fix the price of the vaccine so that it can be made available to the states at a lower cost.
The Chief Minister said that Covid is also affecting children below 18 years of age.
Therefore, vaccine should be developed for children as well and if this vaccine can be applied to children then arrangements should be made to vaccinate them as well.
The Delhi Chief Minister said that similar was the situation in England due to COVID19 a few months ago, but a large-scale vaccination drive was launched to arrest the pandemic.
He said we have to understand that the vaccine is a great solution for prevention of corona.