COVID-19 vaccination: These states will provide free jabs for all eligible beneficiaries

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on January 16. (Representative image)

With the central government liberalising India's vaccination drive, several states have announced that they will bear the cost of the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible beneficiaries.

India has granted emergency use approval to three vaccines -- Covishiled, Covaxin and Sputnik V. All above the age of 18 will be eligible to received jabs from May 1.

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Take a look at all the states that have announced free COVID-19 vaccines for all:

Maharashtra: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerayhas announced that the state has decided to vaccinate citizens in the age group of 18 to 44 against COVID-19 free of cost in government hospitals, even as a minister said the vaccination drive of this age group cannot be launched from May 1 due to unavailability of enough doses.

Delhi: Delhi government will provide free COVId-19 vaccines to everyone above 18 years of age, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said.

Karnataka: The Karnataka cabinet has decided to provide COVID-19 vaccinations free of cost at government hospitals for those between 18-45 years of age.

Uttarakhand: Uttarakhand will vaccinate those between 18-44 years of age for free, said State government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal on 26 April.

Gujarat: Gujarat government will provide free of cost COVID-19 vaccines to those between 18 and 45 years of age from May 1.

Rajasthan: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced that the state government will provide free coronavirus vaccine to people above 18 years of age, who will be inoculated beginning May 1.

Telangana: The Telangana government will administer COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to the entire population in the state irrespective of their age, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has announced.

Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu and Kashmir will provide the COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to people in the 18-45 age group, the office of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has said.

Odisha: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik hasannounced free COVID vaccination for all above the age of 18 years.

Tamil Nadu: The Tamil Nadu government has said that it will provide free COVID-19 vaccination for all from May 1, when the next phase of inoculation drive covering all above 18 years would start.

Jharkhand:  Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said that his government will provide the COVID-19 vaccine to people above 18 years of age for free.

Himachal Pradesh: The Himachal Pradesh government has said that it will provide the COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to people between 18 and 44 years from May 1.

Punjab: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has said that the COVID-19 vaccine will be supplied free of cost in all government healthcare facilities.

Bihar: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the state government will bear the cost of administering jabs to all citizens of the state above 18 years of age starting from May 1.

From the beginning, the state government has been providing vaccines to its natives of all the categories without any payment, in the government as well as in the listed private hospitals across the state, he said.

Sikkim: Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has announced that the state government will provide free COVID-19 vaccine to all citizens between 18 to 45 years.

He said the state government will bear the cost of the vaccines of the people in the age group of 18-45 if the Centre does not bear the cost.

Kerala: CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the Left government would provide the vaccine against COVID-19 free of cost for everyone in the State.

"Vaccines will be provided free of cost for everyone in Kerala. We don't have the habit of changing our stance like others. We had announced free vaccines in the State," he said.

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Chhattisgarh: Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the state government will pay for the coronavirus vaccination of people over 18 years of age, according to an official release here.

"We will take all possible steps to protect the lives of our citizens," the release quoted Baghel as saying.

Madhya Pradesh: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that a detailed guidelines of the Government of India will be issued later, but the people above the age of 18 will be vaccinated for free in Madhya Pradesh.

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Assam: The Assam government will vaccinate everyone in the 18-45 age group for free from May 1 onwards, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said. Donations received last year for COVID management will
be utilised for the purpose, he said.

"Assam will give FREE vaccines to everyone from 18-45 years. GOI is giving free vaccines for 45+," Sarma tweeted.

Uttar Pradesh: The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "We have decided to vaccinate all above 18 years free of cost. The state government will take forward the vaccination programme with its own resources," the CM said.

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