Kashmir Digits

Free coronavirus vaccines will be made available to states for vaccination of all above the age of 18 from today (June 21), as per the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move is expected to give a boost to the vaccination drive in India. As of Monday, India has administered over 30 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines, according to the health ministry’s dashboard.

Saying that a new stage in fight against corona begins today, Union Minister Amit Shah said, “The PM made an important decision that from June 21 people who are 18 yrs of age & above will be vaccinated free of cost by central govt & the process of vaccination will be sped up.”

On June 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that all citizens aged 18 and above will be vaccinated free of cost. The policy will come into effect from June 21 with the central government distributing doses to states.

What you need to know:

1. All Indian citizens above the age of 18 can avail free Covid-19 vaccination at any government facility.
2. Vaccine doses provided free of cost by the Centre will be allocated to states and union territories based on criteria such as population, disease burden and progress of vaccination.
3. Vaccination centres will provide onsite registration facilities. Online CoWin registration for Covid vaccine is not mandatory.
4. The states can avail the facilities of Common Service Centres (CSCs), call centres and Asha workers to help citizens book slots for vaccination.

Why the free vaccine policy now?

 Supreme Court asked the Centre to place on record all relevant documents reflecting its thinking culminating in the Covid-19 vaccination policy.

Justice D Y Chandrachud questioned the vaccine procurement policy and also raised the issue of the digital divide questioning the policy of mandatory registration on CoWin app for jabs.

As such many people on social media credited the Supreme Court and Justice Chandrachud for the change in the strategy.