Covid-19 vaccine will be available for free across India, says Harsh Vardhan

As India gears to kickstart world's biggest vaccination drive against novel coronavirus, Health minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday announced that covid-19 shots will be free for everyone across the country, while urging everyone to refrain from falling prey to misconceptions.

"I appeal to people not to pay heed to rumours. Ensuring safety & efficacy of vaccine is our priority. Different kinds of rumours were spread during polio immunisation but people took the vaccine & India is now polio-free," Vardhan said after reviewing the dry vaccination run at the Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital in the national capital.

"In 1st phase of #COVID19 vaccination, free vaccine shall be provided across the nation to most prioritised beneficiaries that incl 1 cr healthcare & 2 cr frontline workers," tweeted Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today.

In a major announcement on Thursday evening, the Centre announced that dry run will be conducted by all the states and union territories ahead of inoculation.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the objective of the dry run is to prepare the country and "assess operational feasibility in the use of COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) application in a field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide the way forward prior to actual implementation".

The Health Minister's comments follow expert panel's nod to AstraZeneca's covid-19 vaccine developed indigenously by Serum Institute of India.