Punjab Health Minister Balbir Siddha said on Wednesday that the coronavirus vaccine will be provided for free in the state.
“Not only the government employees but also anybody who come to the hospital for injections will get free vaccine,” Balbir said.
“There are 1.60 lakh health care workers in Punjab. We have received 2.04 Lakh doses of the vaccine. All those who register on our portal will be given the vaccine for free,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal on Wednesday said that he had appealed to the Central government to provide the COVID-19 vaccine for free to all citizens of India. He also stated that if the Centre cannot provide the COVID-19 vaccine for free, then his administration would make all the necessary arrangements so that the people of Delhi get the vaccine for free.
“I request everyone to not spread misinformation about #CovidVaccine. I had appealed to the Central govt that COVID vaccination should be provided free of cost to all. If Centre does not do it and a need arises, the vaccine will be provided for free to people of Delhi,” ANI quoted Kejriwal as saying.
In the first phase, in addition to Delhi, vaccines are being airlifted to Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Karnal, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guwahati, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar. On the other hand, the vaccine will be sent directly to Mumbai via truck.
The government had announced on Saturday (January 9) that the vaccination program will start from January 16 across the country. In the first phase, it will be administered to health workers and frontline workers, whose estimated number is around 3 crore. After this, the vaccine will be given to people above the age of 50 years and then to those below the age of 50 who are suffering from serious illness. The number of such people is around 27 crores.
Earlier on Tuesday, the first consignment of Covishield vaccine has reached Delhi from the Serum Institute of India in Pune. Three trucks left the institute early Tuesday morning for the Pune International Airport, which will be sent to different parts of the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (January 11) announced that the Centre will bear the cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers. The prime minister made the announcement during his meeting with chief ministers.
Source: dnaindia.com