Starting Wednesday, all citizens above the age of 18 years of age can register themselves for getting vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19 ) as the government gears up to launch the third phase of the immunization drive on May 1. Some states may not start inoculating all adults on Saturday amid reports of a shortage of vaccine doses, even as the Covid-19 vaccination campaign will be rolled out nationwide.

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Rajasthan had previously said that they may not open up the vaccination programme from May 1, but several others, including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu said that they were expecting more doses in order to cater to additional recipients.

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In this phase of inoculation, the Centre has allowed Covid-19 vaccines manufacturers to provide 50% of their supply in open market to states and private hospitals. While the Serum Institute of India has priced Covishield vaccine at ₹400 per dose for states and ₹600 per dose for private hospitals, Bharat Biotech has decided to sell its Covaxin at ₹600 per dose to states and ₹1,200 per dose to private hospitals. The Centre, however, has asked the drug makers to lower their prices.

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The government will continue to provide vaccines free of cost to citizens. For those availing the service at state government-run or private hospitals, the price will depend on whether the hospitals impose any additional service charge.

As things stand, starting May 1, those above the age of 45 will continue to get free doses that are distributed by the Union government to states, while those below 45 will need to either pay for doses at private hospitals (if available) or wait till their state governments acquire and make them available at a price or for free.

Like the first and the second phase, registration would be done through the cowin.gov.in website. It can also be done through the Aarogya Setu mobile app but there would not be any walk-in registration in this phase.