Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said that the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination for people above the age of 18 years would start as and when the vaccine is received.
The State Government has placed an order of 73 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be procured from Serum Institute of India in a phased manner. It is communicated by the manufacturer that the supplies shall commence after 3-4 weeks.
The Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh had received 1919710 lakhs doses of vaccination for previous phases of vaccination and till date, 1665781 lakh persons have been vaccinated. About 255619 lakh doses are still available in the state for further vaccination.
The State Government has announced to vaccinate all individuals between 18 to 44 years of age free of cost in government health institutions. The number of estimated persons in the hill state eligible for vaccination under this category is around 31 lakhs.
Notably, the Central Government has made all persons above 18 years of age eligible for vaccination from May 1 and registration for the same has also started.
Thakur said that a detailed plan would be prepared and would be announced accordingly to ensure smooth conduction of vaccination drive.
