Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered free vaccination of the entire population in the State, including migrants, regardless of their age.
He expected the native population of the State and migrant workers employed in various sectors to be around four crore. Of them, about 35 lakh people have already been vaccinated. All the remaining people irrespective of their age will be vaccinated free of cost, Mr. Rao decided, said a press release of the CMO. The entire programme will cost over ₹ 2,500 crore but the government will not pay heed to the price as it did not consider money more important than human life.
The release added that Mr. Rao’s decision was communicated to the Chief Secretary and health officials for taking steps. Mr. Rao did not see shortage in availability of vaccines for the State government as Bharat Biotech, which was based here, was already supplying the vaccines and some other companies like Dr. Reddy’s Labs had come forward to join production. He promised to monitor the vaccination programme personally after recovering from COVID-19 infection in a couple of days. He will also hold a high-level meeting with health officials to discuss the roadmap.
Mr. Rao said district wise in-charges will be appointed for strict implementation and success of the vaccination programme. Steps will also be taken to ensure there was no shortage of medical oxygen and Remdisivir for patients. He appealed to the public not to panic as the government will do its best to see that there was no shortage of hospital beds or medicines for patients. Everything to bail out the patients from the crisis will be done. He, however, asked public not to observe any kind of negligence in these trying times. They should not gather in groups nor participate in rallies. They should not leave home unless necessary.