New Delhi: As India plans to begin mass COVID-19 vaccination drive from next month, a report suggests that the very first phase of the programme will cost the nation around $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion. The country will have to shell out this huge amount despite getting support under the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme, according to estimates by the GAVI vaccines alliance.
India, currently is the second worst-affected country by COVID-19 after the United States, and plans to vaccinate nearly 300 million (30 crore) people over the next six to eight months, likely with vaccines from AstraZeneca, Russia’s Sputnik, Zydus Cadila and India’s own Bharat Biotech.
However, according to a Reuters report, India faces a funding challenge to immunise its vast population, with 600 million (60 crore) shots required in the first wave alone for critical workers and people most at risk from COVID-19.
According to an unpublished report prepared for GAVI’s three-day board meeting that began on Tuesday, if India got 190-250 million shots of the vaccine under the COVAX facility, then the government would need to line up at least $1.4 billion to make up for the shortfall. But, if India receives a lower allocation of 95-125 million doses, then the cost to the government of procuring additional shots would go up to $1.8 billion. The comparison has been noted as India’s 2020-21 federal budget allocated just under $10 billion to healthcare.
The COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and GAVI- The Vaccine Alliance and it aims to provide poor and middle-income countries with diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines through a fund known as the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which was set up in April this year.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has not provided any estimate of the cost of its vaccine programme, though it has said all resources will be provided to protect the population.