On Saturday, Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the COVID-19 vaccine will be provided free of cost in the state once its ready and distribution starts across the country. The announcement was made by the CM during his evening briefing. It is reported that the vaccination schedule will be finalized in accordance with the Central Government's order.

With this major announcement, Kerala becomes the fourth state in India to announce the free rollout of coronavirus vaccine after Assam, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Also, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has demanded a free vaccine for all citizens across the country. It is reported that the vaccination schedule will be finalized in accordance with the Central Government's order.

Meanwhile, there is a downward trend of the new infections in the state of Kerala lately and there has been a gradual drop in the number of active cases. On Saturday, Kerala recorded 5,949 new COVID-19 cases and 5,268 recoveries. With this, the total number of active cases in the state has reached 60,029. The total COVID-19 cases in the state has touched 6, 64,632.