Covid vaccine capped at Rs 250 at private hospitals

Coronavirus vaccines will be capped at Rs 250 per shot at private hospitals and health centres, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.Vaccines will be free in all government hosptials and centres.People will need to pay for it at private facilities.Two doses to be taken in a gap of 28 days will cost Rs500. This price will include taxes, Private facilities which are empanelled under Central Government Health Scheme, Ayushman Bharay and similar State Health Insurance Schemes will charge for the vaccines.There are more than 10,000 private hospitals in the country that are cleared to give out vaccines apart from all government hospitals and health centres. Those over 60 will have to only show their identification with age while those over 45 with chronic illnesses will have to get a form signed by a registered medical practitioner. 

"The fundamental shift in this phase is that citizens in the identified age groups, as also those healthcare workers and frontline who have been missed out or left out of the present phase of vaccination, can select vaccination centres of their choice," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement. From Monday, India will start covering people aged 60 and those over 45 with medical conditions. They can register through the government's CoWIN 2.0 portal or walk into vaccination centres; states will also actively mobilise people. More vaccines are likely to be approved for use in the world's second most populous country in coming months, including Russia's Sputnik-V and Cadila Healthcare's ZyCov-D.