Hyderabad: With the COVID-19 vaccine all set to roll out for the public from March 1, the private hospitals in Telangana are likely to charge Rs.300 to Rs. 500 per vaccine shot, health authorities estimated.
As announced by the Union health ministry on Wednesday, the COVID-19 vaccination drive for the public is slated to begin from March 1 in 236 Private hospitals of the state. The 236 hospitals are private, corporate and super-specialty hospitals in the list of Arogyasree Network Hospitals in Telangana.
The vaccine will be given free of cost at government centers.
In the second phase, anyone above the age of 60 and those above the age of 45-years-old with existing illnesses that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19 will be allowed to receive COVID-19 vaccine.
The first phase of vaccination drive started from January 16, where only health care workers and frontline workers have been vaccinated.
“Only select hospitals have been allowed to give the vaccine and they have been told not to give more vaccine vials to any patient to prevent pilferage,” an official from the health department told Times of India.
So far, 1,95,850 people across Telangana have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Across the country, the shots will be given at 10,000 government and over 20,000 private vaccination centers. Around 27 crore people are expected to be covered in the second phase. Of this group around 10 crore are people over 60, the union government said earlier.