New Delhi: Addressing the nation on the Covid situation amid the second wave of the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced a centralized vaccine drive where all vaccines will be procured by the Government of India and will be given to states for free and from June 21 free vaccine will be administered to people above 18 years. PM also informed that the private hospitals can only charge Rs 150 as a service charge on vaccines. PM said that 25 per cent of vaccination work with states will now be handled by the Centre and it will be implemented in the coming two weeks. Both State and Centre will work as per new guidelines in the coming two weeks, he added.
The Government of India will buy 75 per cent of the total vaccine produced by the vaccine manufacturers and will give it to the state governments free of cost. States will not have to spend anything on vaccines, he stated. During his virtual address, Modi said that Covid is the deadliest pandemic in the past 100 years and the modern world has not seen such a pandemic but India has fought it at many levels. Speaking about the nation's health infrastructure, he said that new health infrastructure has been developed in the 1.5 years with COVID hospitals, ventilators beds and a huge network of testing labs, adding that during the second wave in April-May, demand for medical oxygen increased at an unprecedented rate.
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Talking about the inversely proportionate demand and supply of vaccines in the past, PM said that there is a very less number of vaccine manufacturers in the world compared to its demand. He stated, "Imagine what would have happened in India if we did not have vaccines. If you look at the history of the last 50-60 years, you will know that it used to take decades for India to get vaccines from abroad. Vaccine work used to be completed abroad, even then vaccination work could not start in our country."
Praising the Covid vaccination drive in India he stated that in the last one year, India launched two made-in-India vaccines and more than 23 crore vaccine doses have been administered. He further said that the vaccine supply will be increasing in the coming days. Seven companies in the country are producing different vaccines while three vaccine trials are at an advanced stage.
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Throwing light on the process of procuring vaccines from abroad he said that to increase vaccine availability, the process of procuring vaccines from abroad has been sped up. On the rising threat of Covid infection among kids, he said that experts have also expressed concerns about children and in this direction, trial of two vaccines is underway. Research is being conducted for a nasal vaccine in the country, he added.
"In the history of India, there has never been such a need for oxygen. To fulfil the demand, work was done on a war level, all mechanisms of the government were at play. Oxygen rail was started, air force and navy were deployed. In a very short time, the production of liquid medical oxygen was increased by ten times," he said.
Highlights of PM Modi's address to the nation:
- 75 per cent of the vaccines to bought by the Centre
- States will get vaccines free from June 21
- Private hospitals can still buy 25 per cent of the vaccines from the vaccine makers
- Free vaccines for all above 18
The Prime Minister has also announced that the government has decided to extend Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till Diwali where 80 crore poor people will be provided free ration, under the scheme.
Read:| Children can't be vaccinated currently, trials on below 18 underway: Centre to Delhi HC
