The Centre on Sunday said that the government has provided 17.56 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses so far to states and Union Territories for inoculation of people of all age groups and 46 lakh doses will be supplied to them in the next three days.Union Minister Anurag Thakur’s remarks came in response to senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to use Rs 35,000 crore allocated in the Union Budget to ensure free vaccine for all citizens instead of the current system of multiple pricing for various users.Pune-based Serum Institute of India is supplying Covishield to the Centre for Rs 150 a dose while to states for Rs 300 a dose. Private Hospitals are getting it at double the state’s price at Rs 600. Whereas, Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech has priced its vaccine at Rs 150 a dose for the Centre, Rs 600 a dose for state governments and Rs 1,200 a dose for private hospitals. Both anti-Covid vaccines are administered in two doses.Calling for free inoculation, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Kharge in his letter said the Parliament had allocated Rs 35,000 crore in the Union budget to ensure free vaccines for all. He also urged the Prime Minister to immediately convene an all-party meeting to collectively forge a holistic blueprint to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.Dispelling claims of vaccine shortage in states, Thakur said 72 lakh doses are still available with states and union territories.On further supply of vaccines, he said that “1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik V have already reached India and RDIF has also tied up with local Indian companies for bulk production.”In a series of tweets, the Minister highlighted various measures taken by the government to increase supply of medicine and liquid medical oxygen, add more beds and distribute foreign aid to various states to fight the pandemic. He stressed that India is running the world’s fastest and largest vaccination drive and 15 crore people have been administered doses in the past three months.”COVID vaccines are being provided free of cost by the Government of India to those who are 45 years of age and above and to all frontline workers,” Thakur said.
