What are the changes for citizens?

All adults over the age of 18 will be eligible for vaccines, starting May 1.

Those eligible earlier – adults over the age of 45, health care workers and frontline workers – can continue to get the vaccines for free from government vaccination centres.

Some states – Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala – have announced that they will anyway give vaccines for free to all adults at state vaccination centres. This will likely put pressure on other states to do the same, but all may not choose to or be able to do so.

Adults in the 18-45 band will also be able to get the vaccines from private hospitals, for a price.

For those in the 18-45 bracket, do not expect to be vaccinated in the first week of May. India was dealing with shortages for the 45+ bracket even before the new policy was announced, and new supplies aren’t expected until June or even beyond.

What are the supply-side changes?

Earlier, 100% of vaccines were being procured by the Centre and allocated to the states, based on demand and an unarticulated formula.

Under the new rules, the Centre will automatically receive only 50% of vaccines produced by manufacturers. It will allocate these to the states under a new set of criteria, including number of active Covid-19 cases, “performance (speed of administration)” and wastage, which will count negatively. These vaccines are meant for the vulnerable population: those over 45, health care workers and frontline workers.

The remaining 50% can be acquired by the states directly or by private hospitals and industrial establishments, at a price. These can be given to any adult over the age of 18.

Signficantly, this means vaccinations for the entire 18-45 band – 600 million people – will either have to be paid for by states or by the citizens themselves. The Centre will not pay.

Manufacturers will have to declare a price for this block of vaccines, and private hospitals providing vaccines will also have to announce rates.

https://scroll.in/article/992921/fragmented-and-opaque-what-you-need-to-know-about-indias-baffling-new-vaccine-policy