Govt prepares for vaccine procurement
New delhi: With Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promising "free vaccine for all", the Delhi government has started preparing for its procurement procedure, according to health officials in the State government.
"Just like the free medicine scheme by the Delhi government, it will incorporate vaccines also in it and then procure it from companies and give it to people under the scheme," a senior health official said. The State government provides free medicine and treatment at the government run facilities like mohalla clinics and hospitals, vaccines will also be provided in a similar manner, the official said.
In the third phase, Delhi may see more control of the vaccination process than it has now wherein the detailed outline comes from the Central government which has to be adhered to by all states.
However according to officials in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare the Central government will most likely not give out the vaccine for free to states for the entire population.
"After healthcare workers have been vaccinated, we will move to frontline workers like defence and police personnels after which the third phase will kick in which we will categorise people into two — people above 60 and people under 50 along with younger people with comorbidities," Dr Suneela Garg, Professor of Excellence Com Medicine and advisor to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said while speaking to Millennium Post.
Broader guidelines have been laid out by NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GOI. During the third Phase, states will also play a critical role in identification of beneficiaries including individuals with comorbidities, Garg, who is also a member of the Lancet Commission for Covid-19 India Vaccination task force, said.
Another official aware of the developments said that the Central government is yet to decide if it will give out the vaccine for free or put a nominal charge in which case states will have to buy from the centre.
States like West Bengal, Bihar and Delhi have already promised to give out free vaccines to the general public.
In the first phase the Delhi government's aim is to vaccinate 9 lakh healthcare workers and frontline workers against Coronavirus by March, 2021. The state government also wants to achieve a target of 1,000 centers that will have the capacity to administer Covid vaccines to 1 lakh individuals on a daily basis which will come in handy as well when the free vaccine for all is rolled out, another official said.
