Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced that the poor people in the State would be given the coronavirus vaccine free of cost.
The announcement comes ahead of the November 3 bypolls to 28 assembly seats in the State, the outcome of which will decide the fate of the current government.
“Since the trial of COVID-19 vaccine has started in the country, talks were on among the poor sections of the society whether they will be able to afford it. Today let me make it clear that in Madhya Pradesh it will be provided free of cost to all poor people of the state. We will win this battle,” Mr. Chouhan said in a tweet in Hindi.
Mr. Chouhan had earlier tweeted that the government would provide the vaccine free of cost to all the citizens of Madhya Pradesh. However, he later deleted the post.
A total of 1,64,341 people have tested positive in Madhya Pradesh so far, of whom 2,842 have died. However, 1,49,353 patients have recovered from the infection, the health officials have said.