At a time when the country is passing through a terrible phase and there is a ceaseless confusion regarding the price of Covid vaccine to be sold at private hospitals, the decision of the state cabinet to make it free for all citizens of Arunachal Pradesh in the 18-44 age group will come as a welcome relief. Since the day the new decentralized vaccine rollout mechanism was announced by the Centre, across the length and breadth of the country a new headache for citizens has been what will be the price per shot. Uncertainty and a sense of dismay has sustained due to the three-tier price structure and particularly after a newspaper report in a leading national daily which in details presented how much profit the manufacturer is purportedly going to make from the would-be transactions. Several states namely Sikkim, Assam, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Goa have already made it public that it will be made free and today Haryana also joined the brigade. Reading the day-to-day national development amid the raging Covid 2.0 when distance between life and death is shortening alarmingly, such steps at least give some assurance to the citizens. It’s time now for state's the citizens to ‘reciprocate’ and this can be done only through taking seriously all the appeals pertaining to Covid SOPs.

The wave of criticism over three different prices of the vaccine [Rs 600 for individuals if taken at a private hospital, Rs 400 for states for procuring it directly from manufacturer(s) and Rs 150 the purchase price for Centre from manufacturer(s)] that came from several states and opposition parties is natural and questions have also been raised over the report that claimed that Indian prices are way above the ones charged abroad. To counter it, Union Health Ministry on Saturday issued a ‘clarification’ that GoI’s procurement price for both COVID-19 vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) remains at Rs 150 per dose and states will continue to receive them free from this quota. Those keeping track of the developments in the run-up to May 1 can clearly find that nothing specific has been mentioned about the higher prices to be coughed out by the states (it’s still Rs 400 per dose) and for individuals  (Rs 600) at private hospitals. The net outcome as of now is that the states will have to pay a lot more directly out of their exchequers than the Centre and for those with limited revenue collection channels like Arunachal, it will entail a substantial financial pressure.

It’s hoped that more clarifications will arrive to remove the air of confusion that still persists. However, till late Saturday evening, the disparity over the Centre-State pricing formula of covid vaccine(s) was markedly visible. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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