COVID-19 Vaccination in India News: When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck the country, everyone was baffled. Complete lockdown was imposed, lives as well as livelihoods were lost - people from all sections of the society were affected in some way or the other. That was last year. Now, the second wave of the pandemic in the country seems to be more dangerous than the first one. However, the only ray of hope this time is the fact that the vaccination drive has already started in the country.

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To include the maximum number of people in the vaccination drive and to speed up the process, various Indian states have decided to vaccinate the population of their respective states free of cost as per a report by dnaindia.com. This move has come after the central government decided to allow the states and private hospitals to buy the vaccine on their own, leaving the pricing up to the vaccine manufacturers.

The vaccination drive for the people belonging to the age group 18 to 45 will begin from May 1, 2021. Some states have stated that the vaccines will be free for those between the age 18 and 45 only. However, the central government's drive for free vaccinations for those above 45 is going to continue.

Let us have a look at the states that have made the COVID-19 vaccines free of cost:

Karnataka - Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa on Monday took to twitter to make the announcement on free vaccines. He tweeted, "Covid19 vaccine will be provided free of cost to citizens between 18-44 years of age at all govt vaccination centers across Karnataka. Union Govt vaccination drive for citizens above 45 years of age will continue." He has also urged all eligible citizens to register themselves from April 28.

Odisha - Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced free COVID-19 vaccines for all citizens of the state between the age group 18 and 44.

Delhi - Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that the Delhi government has decided to vaccinate everyone above 18 years of age free of cost. He further added that the approval has been given for the purchase of 1.34 crore doses.

Kerala - The Kerala government will also provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all above 18 years of age. This was announced by the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last week.

West Bengal - The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also announced last week that free COVID-19 vaccinations will be provided to all the citizens above 18 years of age in the state after May 5, 2021.

Maharashtra - Maharashtra state minister Nawab Malik on Sunday said that the Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of the state Ajit Pawar has stated that the state government will vaccinate the entire population of Maharashtra above 18 years of age free of cost.

Apart from the above-mentioned states, various other states have also announced free COVID-19 vaccinations in the state. They are as follows:
 
Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Assam and Goa.

India commenced its second phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive to inoculate people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with comorbidities from March 1, 2021. The third phase began from April 1, 2021, for everyone above 45 years of age.