West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday has announced free covid-19 vaccination for people of West Bengal. The announcement comes ahead of the state assembly election, which is scheduled to be held in coming months.
Ms Banerjee in a letter to the frontline workers said that the Trinamool Congress government will guarantee that the coronavirus vaccine reaches everyone in the state free of cost. "I’m happy to share that our govt will ensure Covid-19 vaccine reaches everyone in the state free of cost."
In a similar instance, BJP in its manifesto during campaigning for Bihar assembly election had promised free covid-19 vaccination for people of the state.
From January 16, coronavirus inoculation drive will be launched in the country in which the government plans to vaccinate nearly 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers in phase one of the drive.
The decision, the government said, was taken at a high-level meeting where Modi reviewed the status of covid and vaccine preparedness across states and union territories.
The ministry said, "After the detailed review, it was decided that given the forthcoming festivals including Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Magh Bihu etc, the covid-19 vaccination will start from 16th January 2021.”
According to the Health Ministry guidelines, the latest electoral roll for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections will be used to identify the population aged 50 years or more.