Telangana mulls free vaccine for all

CM seeks details on demographics, requirement and sourcing of vaccines

Hyderabad: The State government, with the objective of ensuring Covid-19 vaccine for all, is mulling several options before it, particularly in view of the fast approaching date of May 1 when the younger lot in the State will be eligible for vaccination.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is learnt to have discussed various issues, including the possibility of administering vaccine free of cost with top officials. With the 18 to 45 age group population in the State estimated at two crore, free vaccination would amount to an expenditure of Rs 1,600 crore for the State exchequer.

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The Chief Minister, sources said, is inclined to go in for free vaccination but has sought further details on population demographics, requirement of vaccines and sourcing of the vials, now that other vaccine players like the Russian Sputnik and Pfizer are likely to enter the Indian market soon. Chandrashekhar Rao, who himself is in quarantine after testing positive earlier this week, is expected to take a final call once he is armed with all the facts and figures.

Officials presently are working out the dynamics of the entire exercise and are likely to come up with concrete statistics on the present situation, future requirements, the logistical issues and the expenditure involved.

It is not merely the vaccine requirement of the 18 to 45 age group that would get added from May 1 but also the backlog population in the 45-plus age group that still have to get their first jab besides the second inoculation for people who have already taken the first shot of vaccine that the officials are working on.

Telangana, which set a record of sorts on Friday administering vaccine to over two lakh people since the launch of the inoculation programme on January 16, has so far administered the first dose of vaccine to over 31.59 lakh people. So far, about 4.43 lakh persons in the State have taken both the shots.

The importance of vaccination has not been lost on the State administration given the fact that one of the options to check the rising number of Covid cases is to increase vaccine coverage. And with the health infrastructure in various States stretched to unmanageable limits with acute shortage of beds and oxygen, Telangana would like to stay a step ahead in dealing with the situation when it has still not spiralled out of control, the sources said.

 

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