Raipur April 22, 2021. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate information on the availability and cost of vaccines to be provided to the State as part of the third phase of the Covid vaccination drive commencing May 1.
The Chief Minister in his letter said that in perspective of the Centre’s decision making everyone above 18 years of age eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the state government has decided to arrange free of cost vaccines for its people in addition to the vaccines available by the Government of India.
Stating that there are only a few days left for commencement of the third phase of vaccination drive, Mr Baghel said it is necessary to prepare a detailed action plan before organising vaccination drive in such a vast scale. He also sought information regarding number of vaccines to be provided monthly to the State by the Centre, approximate number of vaccines provided to the state monthly by Serum institute and Bharat biotech and the cost of vaccines provided to the Centre and states by Serum institute and Bharat biotech.
The Chief Minister further wrote that it is expected that the cost of vaccines should be uniform for the Centre as well as states. Since, Covaxin has been developed with the assistance from the Government of India and therefore, Bharat Biotech should supply its vaccines at lesser rates compared to the one by Serum Institute. He said a uniform rate of vaccines would be justified as both the state and the Centre earns revenue from the tax payers money.
