From June 21, the Central Govt will provide free vaccinations to all persons above 18 years of age in the country – Announcement of PM Modi

New Delhi – From 21^st June, all citizens above 18 years of age will be vaccinated against coronavirus free of cost, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his address to the nation on the evening of 7^th June. Also, the Central Government will now take over 25% of the vaccines given to the State Governments. In this regard, regulations will be announced by the Central and State Governments in the next two weeks. The vaccine will also be available in private hospitals. Modi also announced that it will be available there for only Rs. 150 more than the cost of the vaccine. Modi also said that the deadline for giving free rations to the poor has been extended to Diwali, that is, November 2021. After the introduction of the vaccination program in the country, the Central Government had taken responsibility of the free vaccination only for the Covid warriors and civilians above 45 years of age, while the States had taken responsibility for vaccination of people in the age group of 18 to 44 years. Now the Central Government will provide free vaccination to all those above 18 years of age.

My address to the nation. Watch. https://t.co/f9X2aeMiBH

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 7, 2021

Vaccine supply will be on a large scale in a few days !

Prime Minister Modi further said that if we look at the past history, it used to take decades for vaccination in India. In 2014, the vaccination rate in India was only 60%. The quantity of production was very small. If vaccination had been done at the same rate, it would have taken another 40 years for the country; however, since we launched ‘Mission Rainbow’, the rate of vaccination has gone up from 60% to 90% in the last six years. Even in the Coronavirus crisis, India made two indigenous vaccines in one year. India is not far behind in vaccination. Currently, 7 companies in the country are producing corona preventive vaccines. Trials of 3 vaccines are underway. Discussions are underway with other countries about the supply of vaccines. Therefore, in the next few days, the supply of vaccines will be large, Modi also clarified.