bhubaneswar l sunday l february 28, 2021 l `8.00 l PAGES 26 l late CITY EDITION U.S. owes India $216 bn as its debt soars to $28 trillion Republican opposing Biden’s $1.9 tn Covid relief package warned it would worsen the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio Borrowing from not friendly countries Debt doubled during obama years On a day the House of Representatives approved the package in a 219-212 near party-line vote, Republican Senator Alex Mooney said US will have to borrow more to fund the stimulus from countries that aren’t friends. The biggest creditors are Japan and China, whom the US owes $1 trillion each. The $29 trillion debt means the US has borrowed $84,000 per citizen ■ ■ Mooney said the national debt doubled during Barack Obama’s tenure and added $10,000 per citizen in the past one year alone The relief package aims to tackle the economic fallout from the pandemic, including direct financial aid to average Americans, support to businesses and boost the national vaccination drive $104 tn estimated addition to the national debt by 2050 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Covid vaccine at private hospitals to cost `250 Comorbidities for determining eligibility Significant left ventricular systolic dysfunction Heart failure with hospital admission in past one year Initially, 20K facilities will get Covishield alone; 20 comorbidities finalised S u m i S u k a n ya D u t ta @ New Delhi The Union ministry of health and family welfare on Saturday fixed the cost of Covid-19 vaccines, set to be offered to those above 60 years and people over 45 years with specified comorbidities, at `250 per shot in private hospitals and also finalised a list of 20 underlying conditions, or comorbidities. Top sources in the ministry also said that in the beginning, only Covishield, developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca, will be made available in about 20,000 private hospitals where the expanded Covid-19 vaccination drive is set to begin. The list of comorbidities includes those having diabetes for over 10 years or with complications and hypertension. Also, people diagnosed with solid cancer since July last year, lymphoma, blood cancer or myeloma, those with HIV and acid attack survivors with involvement of the respiratory system will be eligible. As per the agreement between the manufacturers, rep- Now, Judge who gave Disha bail gets threats K a n u S a r d a @ New Delhi Soon after activist Disha Ravi was granted bail in the toolkit case, a section of social media users targeted additional sessions judge Dharmendra Rana for making observations critical of the government. Rana’s is not an isolated case of a judge facing online abuse and threat after delivering a verdict. This was highlighted by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Patna on Saturday when he said a ‘disturbing trend’ of activists criticising judges for unfavo u r a b l e ve r d i c t s h a d started. While stating that criticism of judgments in good faith is healthy for democracy, legal experts suggested punitive action against those transgressing the ‘criticise the judgment, not the judge’ dictum. Senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde said: “Most of the ill-informed criticism of Judge Rana is due to a sentence, saying sedition cannot be used to minister to the wounded vanity of governments. That sentence is a quote from a British judge, ruling in favour of an Indian citizen against the colonial government of pre-independence India. Most ill-informed criticism can and must be shrugged off, but if there is anything particularly vicious, the High Court must take preventive or punitive steps at an appropriate time.”  continued on: P10  WITH THIS ISSUE Present Tense, Future Hazy PLUS 12 PAGES There are two reasons why only Covishield would be available in private hospitals in the beginning. First, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has supply issues. Secondly, people have greater faith in Covishield Officials resentatives of private hospitals and the government, the vaccine makers will get `150 per jab while hospitals will earn `100 per shot for every dose of the vaccine administered. “States have been explained that the private hospitals functioning as Covid vaccination centres can be subject to a ceiling of `250 per person per dose along with the electronic and financial management mechanism in this regard,” the ministry said in a statement. Around 10,000 private hospitals empanelled under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, nearly 687 hospitals empanelled under the Central Government Health Scheme and other private hospitals empanelled under state health insurance schemes can participate in the vaccination drive, it added. The price of the vaccines was fixed after several rounds of meetings between government officials, led by V K Paul, member (health) Niti Aayog, who heads the National Expert Group on Covid19 Vaccine Administration, and representatives of the two vaccine manufacturers, Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India. The price for each dose of the vaccine for individuals will be less than the price at which the government had procured the vaccines in the first and second phases of the vaccination drive for healthcare and frontline workers. The Centre had paid `200 per dose for Covishield by Serum Institute of India and `295 per dose for Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, excluding taxes, when it had procured 110 million and 55 million doses of the two vaccines respectively last month. stock status Vaccine availability Karnataka Covishield Kerala Covishield Covishield, Tamil Nadu Covaxin Covishield, Telangana Covaxin Covishield, Andhra Pradesh Covaxin Covishield, Odisha Covaxin State in a show of strength, Congress dissenters, termed G23, said the party had weakened in the past decade and vowed to work for strengthening the party . “We have assembled here and had also gathered earlier and we will unitedly strengthen the party,” senior Congress Post cardiac transplant/ left ventricular assist device Coronary artery disease with past CABG/PTCA/MI and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment CT/MRI documented stroke and hypertension/diabetes on treatment Angina and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment Post cardiac transplant/ left ventricular assist device Diabetes (>10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment End stage kidney disease on haemodialysis/CAPD Sambalpur: As the Odisha government raises guard against Covid-19 amidst a resurgence fear across the country, 25 students of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla have tested positive in the last two days prompting the institution to switch back to online classes once again. Sources informed that 15 students are asymptomatic and isolated in a separate hostel building, while one has been admitted to the Covid19 hospital at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla. The rest were sent to their respective homes to be treated in isolation | P4 States in a fix as Centre scrambles to finalise jab details S u m i S u k a n ya D u t ta @ New Delhi While the Covid-19 vaccination drive is entering the next phase on Monday to cover everyone above 60 years and those above 45 years with co-morbidities, states are still grappling with basic details. According to sources, many states are in the dark about how many doses, or which vaccine, will they receive. Officials in the Union health ministry said talks Why not use Azad’s services to unite Congress, ask dissenters Faya z Wa n i @ Srinagar Current prolonged use of oral corticosteroids/immunosuppressants Decompensated cirrhosis Severe respiratory disease with hospitalisation in last two years Lymphoma/leukaemia/ myeloma Diagnosis of any solid cancer or or after July 1, 2020 or currently on cancer therapy Sickle cell disease/bone marrow failure/aplastic anemia/thalassemia major Primary immunodeficiency diseases/HIV infection Disabilities due to intellectual disabilities/muscular dystrophy/acid attack with involvement of respiratory system/ persons with disabilities having high support needs/multiple disabilities Moderate of severe valvular heart disease Covid scare in VSSUT : 25 students test +ve, classes back online leader Kapil Sibal said while addressing the Shanti Sammelan in Jammu on Saturday. Besides Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Raj Babbar, Manish Tewari and Vivek Tankha addressed the sammelan, the first coming together of the dissident Congress leaders at a single platform. CONTINUED ON: P7 are on with Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to gauge the available stock of vaccine vials that can be immediately dispatched to states. An estimated 12 crore people come under this vulnerable group, of which 11 crore are people older than 60 years. Sources added that while the government has fixed a price of `150 per dose for vaccine mak- ers in private hospitals, manufacturers are not happy . “The issue during the price negotiation was that how can the price of the vaccine in private hospitals be lower than the rate at which the Central government had procured it earlier for the first phase of vaccination,” said an official. “The companies were very reluctant in accepting the price,” the source added. Officials in a few states, meanwhile, said they need additional doses at least a day before the next phase starts but there is no clarity on when and how much will arrive. “We do not want a situation where entitled beneficiaries queue up for vaccines at a health facility and we have to tell them that enough vaccines are not available,” said a health departm e n t o f f i c i a l f ro m We s t Bengal.