Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that the health authorities are vaccinating people aged 18 years and above for free with priority in seven districts which have reported high Covid-19 positivity rates as well as have high active caseload. At least 85 centres have been dedicated to people above the age of 18 years in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Kanpur and Meerut. Vaccination will begin in these seven districts first and will continue for five days following which the vaccination drive for all ages will kick off in the rest of the districts, the chief minister said. He also highlighted that people above the age of 45 will be given free vaccines by the government of India.

“At least 2,500 centres for people above 45 years have begun vaccination under Phase III today. We`ve also begun vaccination for people above 18 years and have included 7 districts where the positivity rate and the number of active cases are highest. Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Kanpur and Meerut have 85 separate centres dedicated to people above 18 years of age,” Adityanath was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“In the next five days, vaccination will be done in these 85 centres in these 7 districts following which everyone will be vaccinated in other districts. We have decided to give free vaccines to people between 18-44 years of age. People above 45 years of age are being given free vaccines by the central government,” he further added.

He also pointed out that the state government ordered 10 million coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine doses as Uttar Pradesh kicked off the third phase of the vaccination drive. Adityanath also said that the state has directly purchased the vaccines from the pharmaceutical companies and has also floated global tenders to produce at least 50 million doses of the vaccine.

“We have ordered 10 million vaccine doses. We have also received vaccine doses for people aged 45 years and above. We have purchased directly from the companies and also floated global tenders for producing 50 million vaccines in Uttar Pradesh. I am sure that we will be able to take this (vaccination under Phase III) forward successfully,” Adityanath was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra continued her criticism of the state government over inadequate testing and mishandling of the pandemic in the state on Saturday. In a series of tweets, where she attacked the government for holding rural body elections in the state, she highlighted that the government failed to help its citizens during the second wave.

“People are dying in homes across rural UP, and these deaths are not being counted as Covid-19 (deaths) because people aren’t being tested,” Priyanka said in a tweet. She also said that the government is terrorising the medical community as well as citizens and tried to cover the truth. “The government’s actions are designed to cover up the truth and terrorise both the public and the medical community, which is working tirelessly to save lives,” Priyanka further added.

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