COVID-19 vaccine precautionary dose service charge capped at Rs. 150
The Centre on Saturday announced that private vaccination centers can charge a service fee of up to Rs. 150 in addition to the cost of the precautionary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from beneficiaries. This comes a day after the government announced that everyone aged over 18 years in the country will be eligible for the precautionary doses, or booster shots, from Sunday.
- The Centre on Friday announced precautionary doses for all adults at a time when the majority of the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted with India witnessing a decline in cases.
- Notably, the move came after several experts earlier called for booster shots to be administered to everyone in the 18+ age group amid predictions that India could witness its fourth wave from June 2022.
Notably, following the government's announcement of boosters for adults, the prices of the precautionary doses of SII's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN have been slashed. Both vaccine doses will now cost Rs. 225 (excluding service charges). To recall, Covishield's booster was priced at Rs. 600 while that of COVAXIN was Rs. 1,200. Meanwhile, Covovax will reportedly cost Rs. 900+taxes once approved as a booster.
Notably, no fresh registrations on the Centre's Co-WIN platform are required for precautionary doses as all beneficiaries would already be registered on it. However, beneficiaries can book their time slots and choose vaccination centers on Co-WIN. Once their booking is successful, they will also receive a confirmation message on their registered mobile number along with an OTP to be shown at the vaccination center.
As of Saturday, India has administered a total of nearly 185.6 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, more than 83.8 crore people have been fully vaccinated and nearly 99.5 crore have received one vaccine dose, while 2.3 crore precautionary doses have been administered so far. On Saturday, India administered over 12.8 lakh doses till 5:50 pm, including over 1.2 lakh precautionary doses, according to Co-WIN.
The Centre's landmark decision on Friday means that the drive to administer precautionary doses to all adults from Sunday (April 10) will begin exactly three months after the government first commenced providing booster shots in India. To recall, the Centre had begun administering the same to healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities back on January 10.
