Centre Has So Far Incurred Rs 9,725 Crore On Nationwide COVID-19 Vaccination Drive: Govt Tells Lok Sabha

The Government has so far incurred an expense of Rs 9,725.15 crore to power the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive, reports The Economic Times.

Of the total sum, the Government has spent Rs 8,071.09 crore to buy vaccines, while the remaining sum of about Rs 1,654.06 crore has been spent on operations involved in administering vaccines.

The details were shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in the Lok Sabha yesterday (23 July). The Ministry also shared that it has placed seven orders for procuring vaccines since the drive was rolled out in January.

The Ministry told the Lok Sabha that the first communication to the two vaccine manufacturers – Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India – was sent on 10 January, six days before the vaccination drive rollout.

India had rolled out the nationwide inoculation drive on 16 January and has since expanded the coverage significantly. While only Covishield and Covaxin had been cleared for administration in January, since then, the authorities have also cleared the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.