Kejriwal pitches for free COVID vaccine throughout India

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the COVID-19 vaccine should be made available throughout the country for free, saying all the people were troubled by the coronavirus. A debate has started on whether the COVID-19 vaccine, which is yet to materialise, should be made available to people for free, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promising free doses of the vaccine in its manifesto for the Bihar polls.

"The whole country should get free COVID-19 vaccine. It is a right of the entire country. All the people are troubled by the coronavirus, so the vaccine should be free for the country," Kejriwal told reporters after inaugurating two flyovers in northeast Delhi.

The coronavirus vaccine, once available, will be distributed under a special COVID-19 immunisation programme with the Centre procuring the doses directly and making it available for priority groups, official sources have said. According to them, the Centre will procure the vaccine directly to make it available to the priority groups for free through the existing network of states and districts.