The price of COVID-19 vaccine in Gujarat will be Rs 250 in private hospitals and it will be provided free of cost in government hospitals across the state, ANI reported Gujarat Dy CM Nitin Patel as saying today. The Gujarat government has decided to expedite the vaccination drive. In the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination, out of the total 4.82 lakh health care workers, over 4.07 lakh (or 84 percent) have been administered the first dose of the vaccine, an official statement of the state government said. Out of the total 5.41 lakh frontline workers, 4.14 lakh (or 77 percent) have been covered in the state in the first phase of vaccination.
According to the state government, the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine has been given to 1.23 lakh healthcare workers till now. The state’s health department claims that Gujarat ranks first in the country in terms of vaccination per million population. Gujarat has so far received 15.70 lakh doses of Covishield, and 4.83 lakh Covaxin. Vaccination drive for senior citizens and those with co-morbidities will begin from March 1 as per the Centre’s instructions. Till now, Gujarat has reported 2,69,031 COVID-19 cases, out of which 2,62,487 patients have recovered. On Friday, the state reported 460 new cases. Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has decided to extend the night curfew in four major cities of the state, including Ahmedabad, by another 15 days in view of the recent spike in coronavirus cases.