Earlier this month, the Goa government initiated ‘Tika Utsav’ with an aim to increase the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines for citizens over the age of 45. Now to encourage every citizen to be a part of the inoculation drive, the authorities have decided to offer free of cost vaccination to all, above the age of 18. This will come into effect from May 1, when a country-wide vaccination programme will be rolled out for each adult by the Centre, in a fight to defeat the pandemic.
Vaccines to be sourced from the Serum Institute of India, Pune
The CM of Goa took to Twitter and stated, “Our Govt will be placing an order initially for 5 lakh doses of #COVID19 vaccines directly from the manufacturer. Altogether 15 lakh plus doses will be procured at a cost of over Rs 60 crores. The vaccines will be administered free of cost to people between the 18-45 age group”, on Thursday.
The upcoming immunization drive will be backed by vaccines sourced from the Serum Institute of India, Pune. Further as per issued protocol, the first two rounds of vaccination encircled the frontline workers and people above 45 years. Out of the lot, 2,11,906 nationals have been vaccinated with the first dose while 54,729 people have been administered the second dose, a senior health official mentioned.
Along with Goa, there are several other states, inclusive of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, that have pledged to immunize their citizens at no cost at all.
