Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday, 26 April, said that Delhi will vaccinate all above the age of 18 free of cost.

The third phase of vaccinations will be open to all adults from Saturday, 1 May.

The Chief Minister also appealed to the vaccine manufacturers, urging them to bring down the price to Rs 150 per dose. “This is not the time for profits, this is a time for humanity. I also appeal to the central government to cap the price (of vaccines) if needed,” Kejriwal said.

The Serum Institute of India (SII), which manufactures Covishield, announced that it would sell the vaccine to states and private hospitals for Rs 400 and Rs 600, respectively, while Bharat Biotech's Covaxin will cost state governments Rs 600 and private hospitals Rs 1,200. The prices for the Centre would remain the same at Rs 150.

While making all adults eligible for vaccinations in the latest round, the Centre had announced changes to its policy so that states and private hospitals could buy vaccines directly from the manufacturers.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, the Health Ministry raised the issue of the vaccine procurement and wrote, “It is made clear that every month only 50 percent of the total Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) cleared vaccine doses of any manufacturer would be procured by the Government of India.”

The vaccines procured by the Centre will be provided to the states free of cost to inoculate all healthcare workers, frontline workers and everyone above 45 years of age.