Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation speaking about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination, the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Assam announced that they would provide free jabs to all citizens above 18 years of age from May 1.
The Uttar Pradesh government on April 20 said it will administer the COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to all those above 18 years of age from May 1. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The Cabinet also thanked PM Modi for allowing administration of the vaccine against COVID-19 to those above the age of 18.
Everyone above 18 years of age will be eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 from May 1, the central government announced on April 19 as it liberalised the vaccination drive to allow states, private hospitals and industrial establishments to procure the doses directly from manufacturers.
In a statement, CM Adityanath said PM Modi’s decision will help in better management of COVID-19 situation and mass vaccination will help in defeating coronavirus.
“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,” Adityanath said in a statement.
The coronavirus infection tally exceeded 9 lakh in Uttar Pradesh on April 20 after detection of 29,754 new cases. The death toll crossed the 10,000-mark with 162 more fatalities. So far, COVID-19 has claimed 10,159 lives in the state, which has reported 9.09 lakh infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020.
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Assam also announced free COVID-19 vaccination to all between 18 and 45 years of age. The state's Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed about the decision on Twitter. “Assam will give free vaccines to everyone from 18-45 years,” he said.
Funds collected in Assam Arogya Nidhi in 2020 will be used for procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, Sarma said.
Assam placed an order of 1 crore doses of Covaxin, an indigenous COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, on April 20, Sarma added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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