Report by Tanya Singh:
The Bihar government has decided to bear the entire cost of the coronavirus vaccination even at the private hospitals in the state as India prepares to vaccinate people aged above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities from March 1. The Bihar government’s decision to bear the cost of coronavirus vaccination comes even as the central government capped the cost of vaccines at private facilities at Rs 250 per dose.
While the coronavirus vaccine will be given free of cost at government hospitals, people will need to pay for it at private facilities. The government of India has supplied two COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, free of cost to the states and UTs to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) and they will also be able to cover the next priority group i.e. 60 years plus age group and the age group of 45 to 59 years suffering from pre-specified co-morbidities. The states have been requested to operationalise the linkages between the CVCs (both government and private empanelled facilities) with the nearest cold chain points for ensuring smooth vaccine delivery to (CVCs).
The ministry specified 20 co-morbidities within the 45-59 years age group including heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, moderate or severe valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, CT/ MRI documented stroke, diabetes ( >10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment, end-stage kidney disease on hemodialysis, diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 2000 or currently on any cancer therapy for which one will have to submit a medical certificate. The ministry has shared the format of the simplified one-page certificate to be signed by any registered medical practitioner. The certificate can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self-registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the CVC, the ministry said.