The Opposition on Monday said that the Centre’s decision to take over the procurement of coronavirus vaccines from states for the 18 to 44 age group should have been implemented before.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening announced that the state governments will no longer have to spend on Covid-19 vaccines and the Centre will now provide doses for the 18 to 44 age group. However, private hospitals will continue to buy 25% of the total vaccine stock. This means some beneficiaries will have to pay for their vaccines if they choose to get inoculated at non-government medical facilities.

After the announcement, leaders from different parties claimed that the change in the vaccination policy was due to the insistence from Opposition parties and the Supreme Court’s recent criticism of the vaccination policy.

“The prime minister inflicted a huge cost on the people of India before accepting the Opposition’s demand for centralised procurement and free vaccination for 18-44 year olds,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted. “Humility and reaching out will not hurt him.”

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the Centre could have taken this decision earlier and state governments were not able to procure vaccines due to the Centre’s earlier policy. In another tweet, he countered the Centre’s assertion that states were asked to procure vaccines on their demands itself.

“The Centre and [the] Bharatiya Janata Party repeatedly says the onus of buying vaccines was put on states on their demands,” Sisodia tweeted in Hindi. “Which state has asked for this responsibility? Does anyone have a statement or letter from any of the chief ministers? Has even a BJP-ruled state asked for this?”

Meanwhile, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi reiterated his party’s demand for free vaccination for all citizens.

“One simple question- if vaccines are free for all, why should private hospitals charge for them?” he tweeted.

Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that the Centre’s decision was an attempt to “defend his [Modi] dubious discriminatory vaccine policy by passing the buck on to State governments”.

He added that the demands from the Opposition and the Supreme Court’s order forced the central government to alter its policy and raised questions on still keeping a 25% quota for private hospitals.

Under India’s third phase of the immunisation programme, the Centre had announced that vaccine manufacturers will supply 50% of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory-released doses to the Union government and the remaining 50% doses to state governments and in the open market. This system was implemented from May 1, when the central government opened vaccinations for all adults.

But the Centre had faced criticism on its vaccination policy from the Supreme Courtand Opposition leaders for the differential pricing of shots and shortages of vaccines.