Chhattisgarh CM writes to PM Modi, seeks proportional allocation & tax waiver on vaccines

Ahead of the commencement of the third phase of the vaccination drive on May 1, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Giving details of the steps taken by the State government under him, he laid a five-point request before PM Modi. 

Firstly, he requested PM Modi to acquaint the State governments with the rules chalked out in relation to the vaccination drive. He then went on to address the issue of allocation of vaccines, and wrote, "In every State, the allocation of vaccination should be in proportion to the active caseload and the population, so that all the States can simultaneously begin with the vaccination drive."

Next, in his letter, he addressed the issue of the price of the vaccine and requested PM Modi to consider following the 'one vaccine-one price' policy. Reasoning his request, he said, "If this happens, the government will be able to divert the funds for other COVID related purposes." He then went on to request exemption of the vaccine from all types of taxes and supported the request by saying that the vaccine has emerged as a 'life-saver', and therefore, should not be taxed. His last request was in relation to giving authorization to other vaccines. "Covaxina and Covishield alone cannot meet the humungous demand for vaccines, and therefore, I request you to extend authorization to other vaccines," he wrote. 

Liberalized third phase of Vaccination 

The liberalized third phase, which is slated to begin on May 1, has opened the vaccination drive, which was earlier limited to those aged 45 years and above, to all aged 18 and above. To meet the growing need for vaccination, the Centre has asked the vaccine manufacturing companies to scale up their production with the help of International as well as national players and has allowed them to supply 50 per cent of the produced doses to state and private hospitals directly, which means now the States and the private hospitals do not have to go through the entire process, and can directly get it from the manufacturers at the price declared by them. At present, India has in use two vaccines- Covaxin and Covishield, and will soon have the Sputnik V in the race. Besides, there are around five more vaccine candidates in the advanced clinical stages of development. 

(Credit-ANI/PTI)