Bhubaneswar: Any person who received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a private centre can take the second shot at a government site free of cost, said state family welfare director Bijay Panigrahi here Monday.
The director said this as the Union government has decided to not provide free vaccines at private facilities with effect from May 1. He further said if a person tests positive for COVID-19 after the first dose, he can take the second shot four weeks after his recovery.
He said registration of citizens in the age group of 18-45 years for vaccination will start from April 28.
Eligible people have to do registration on CoWin app or Aarogya Setu app. After the registration, slots will be booked according to the number of Covid-19 vaccine doses available with the state government.
The beneficiaries will get information through SMSes regarding their dates of inoculation and the places. The third phase of the vaccination will wholly depend on the quantities of vaccines available in the state, he added.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday announced free vaccination for the age group of 18-45 during the third phase of vaccination. As many as 19.3 million people will benefit from the inoculation exercise for which the government will spend `2,000 crore.
The state government has placed fresh orders for 10.34 lakh doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech and 3.77 crore doses of Covishield from Serum Institute of India (SII). However, the state is yet to get a reply in this regard.
As many as 88,770 people have been vaccinated at 595 centers Monday while the government has planned to conduct the sessions at 602 centers Tuesday. The state has 1,23,170 doses of Covishield and 3,65,750 doses of Covaxin.