Rajesh Tope: Centre ready to bear cost of COVID-19 vaccination in first phase

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the Centre is ready to bear the expenses of coronavirus vaccination in the first phase where some eight lakh health workers in the state will get the vaccine shots.

'I had a video conference with union public health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan where I demanded that the Centre bear the cost of vaccination including operational expenses,' Tope said in a video message.

Union ministet Vardhan agreed that the Centre will bear the bill for the vaccination in the first phase but did not say mention anything about later phases, Tope said.

'The vaccination centre will be set up at state and civic-run hospitals. If we could set up 100 such centres with each catering to 100 persons, we can cover the entire health staff in 70 to 80 days,' the minister said.

Further Tope refused to comment on the controversy surrounding the Bharat Biotech's Covaxin which has got approval before it conducted third phase trial data, Tope said, 'As a state, we will not comment on the issue.

'However, I have requested the Centre to allocate one company to one state as it will be helpful in terms of coordinating the supply and its distribution,' he said.