Beneficiaries between 18 to 44 years will be able to choose their preferred COVID-19 vaccines at private centres, RS Sharma, chairperson of an empowered committee on COVID-19 vaccination, has said. India will start inoculating citizens aged 18+ from May 1.

Also read: Vaccine registration on CoWIN must for those aged 18-44, here’s how to apply

In an interview with CNN-News18, Sharma said that the choice of vaccines will apply to only private centres, where people will pay for their own jabs.

Notably, during the first and second phase of the vaccination drive, health care and frontline workers, as well as the 45+ population, had no option to choose between Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield. However, this is going to change from Saturday.

Sharma, who is also the chief of India’s CoWin platform, said that the portal will soon be able to show vaccine types and their prices to beneficiaries, which will help them select the vaccine they want. 

According to the Centre’s latest policy, vaccine manufacturers can directly sell 50% of their produce to state governments and private hospitals while the rest will go to the Centre for the ongoing government-sponsored campaign.

As of now, the Serum Institute of India, manufacturer of Covishield, has set the prices at Rs 300 a dose for state governments and Rs 600 a dose for private hospitals. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be available at Rs 400 a dose for state governments and at Rs 1,200 a dose for private hospitals.

Although millions of people have already registered on CoWin to get immunised against the virus, several states, including Maharashtra, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, have announced the shortage of vaccines.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccination drive, phase 3: States that’ll provide jabs for free

Addressing the shortage, Sharma said that people will not get the vaccines “simultaneously” everywhere because that will depend on when “state governments and private centres are able to procure the vaccines and deploy them”.

Sharma clarified that early registration does not play a role in prioritising the vaccination process of a beneficiary. “If you are looking at the slots and if you get them reserved for yourself, then your seat is confirmed…it will not operate based on who has registered first,” he told CNN-News18.