Govt to prioritise vaccination of 40-44 age group

SHILLONG, May 6: The Health department is awaiting delivery of 42,630 doses of vaccine from Serum Institute of India (SII) to start the vaccination of people in the 40-44 age group on apriority basis.
“Priority will be given to people between 40 to 44 years once the 42,630 doses arrive. We are giving priority to the higher age group since we will be receiving a small quantity of vaccine at the moment,” a senior official of the Health department informed on Thursday.
He further informed that they have purchased the vaccine at Rs 300 per dose from SII and the doses are likely to arrive by next week.
“We will be providing the vaccine for free for the 40-44 age group at government health facilities,” the official said while adding that the vaccine will be administered on a payment basis at private hospitals.
Asked if the department has fixed the rate of vaccination in the private hospitals, he said that the rate will be fixed once the vaccines arrive.
Earlier, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma had stated the state government will require Rs 90 crore plus GST for procuring 30 lakh doses to vaccinate around 15 lakh citizens aged between 18 and 44 years.
“It is definitely a challenge to procure 30 lakh doses of vaccine due to the limited financial resources. But this is something which needs to be done. We will not compromise on it,” the chief minister had stated.