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346     Economic Survey 2021-22


             and private hospitals were allowed to procure COVID-19 vaccine directly from manufacturers.
             Government  of  India  procured  50  percent  of  monthly  vaccine  production  by  the  domestic
             manufacturers, while the State Governments and private hospitals procured remaining 50 percent
             doses.  However, based on real-time feedback, it was changed to “The Revised Guidelines for
             Implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program” implemented from 21  June 2021,
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             whereby, Government of India procured 75 percent of monthly vaccine production and provided
             free to States and UTs, while rest could be procured by private hospitals.

             10.7  Availability of Vaccine: India is among few countries producing COVID vaccines. The
             country started with two Made in India COVID vaccines. India’s first domestic COVID-19
             vaccine,  Whole  Virion  Inactivated  Corona  Virus  Vaccine  (COVAXIN),  was  developed  and
             manufactured by Bharat Biotech International Limited in collaboration with National Institute
             of Virology of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The ICMR funded the clinical
             trials of the COVISHIELD vaccine developed in collaboration with Oxford – AstraZeneca.
             COVISHIELD and COVAXIN have been widely used vaccines in India. Every month about 250-
             275 million doses of COVISHIELD and 50-60 million doses of COVAXIN have been produced .
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             COVISHIELD,  COVAXIN  and  COVOVAX  have  also  received  emergency  authorization
             approval  from  WHO.  Besides,  manufacturing  of  COVID-19  vaccines  viz.,  Sputnik-V,
             ZyCoV-D, recombinant (Ad26.COV2-S) have also been given emergency use authorization by
             the regulatory authority. Moreover, import of COVID-19 Vaccines viz., Sputnik-V, Moderna,
             and recombinant (Ad26.COV2-S) have also been permitted.

             10.8  Pricing and equity: At all Government COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs), COVID-19
             vaccine was made available free of cost for all eligible citizens. Except for about 4-5 percent of
             total doses administered in the country, rest have been administered at Government COVID-19
             Vaccination Centres. Union Budget for 2021-22 allocated ` 35,000 crore for procurement under
             COVID-19 Vaccination Program. Distribution of COVID vaccine to all without discrimination
             has also been important feature of the vaccination program. Out of total administered doses of
             COVID-19 vaccines, 49 percent have been administered to females; more than 70 percent of
             vaccine doses have been administered at CVCs located in rural areas.

             10.9  Coverage: In the first phase (from 16  January to 1  March 2021) COVID-19 vaccines were
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             given to Health Care Workers and Frontline workers. In second phase (from 1  March onward),
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             COVID vaccines were extended to persons over 45 years of age with specified co-morbidities
             and those aged 60 years and above. From 1  April, 2021, coverage was further extended to all
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             citizens aged 45 years and above. From 1  May 2021, all 94 crore persons of age 18 years and
                                                     st
             above, were made eligible for COVID vaccination. From 3  January 2022, COVID-19 vaccine
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             coverage has been extended to age-group of 15-18 years. Till 19  January 2022, 3.73 crore
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             youngsters between 15-18 age group have been vaccinated with 1  dose of COVID-19 vaccine
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             covering more than 50 percent of youngsters. Further, from 10  January, 2022, Health Care
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             Workers, Front Line Workers and persons age more than 60 years with co-morbidities have
             been made eligible to receive a precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine, on completion of 9
             months or 39 weeks from the date of administration of 2  dose. As on January 19, 2022, 56.66
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             lakh precautionary doses have been administered to health care workers, frontline workers and
             persons over 60 years of age.

             3 Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing Capacity (PIB: 14 December 2021), Accessed in https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx-
             ?PRID=1781267)
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