As of March 10, government spent close to Rs 1,400 crore on vaccine: Health Ministry

The Centre has spent ₹1,392.82 crore in procurement of Covid-19 vaccine from Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech between January and March 10, according to data the health and family welfare ministry submitted to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. This is the first indication of how much the Covid-19 public immunisation drive is costing the exchequer.

The government had procured 6.6 crore doses for the public immunisation drive covering three crore healthcare and frontline workers. Following this, the government had placed an order of 10 crore doses of Serum Institute’s Covishield to cover a part of the second phase of vaccination of senior citizens above 60 years and those with comorbidities between 45-59 years, the ministry data showed.

Apart from this, the government has earmarked ₹480 crore to meet the operation and maintenance costs incurred by the state governments in this fiscal. So far, the Centre has released ₹123.5 crore to states.


“So far, the cost incurred is ₹1,516.3 crore, but the expenditure will now increase further as more orders are being placed,” said a senior health ministry official who did not wish to be identified. “The pace of vaccination has increased and the health ministry has to ensure enough supplies in the pipeline. Additional orders would be placed,” the person told ET.

So far, 58.27 lakh persons have registered for the second phase of vaccination. The government is targeting to vaccinate about 27 crore persons in this phase.

The highest number of beneficiaries registered so far is in Rajasthan at 12.07 lakh, followed by Gujarat at 8.06 lakh, Maharashtra at 4.71 lakh, West Bengal at 4.49 lakh, and Uttar Pradesh at 3.84 lakh.

The numbers are likely to climb as the states ramp up vaccination further to ensure most eligible people are covered and move the drive from urban areas to rural areas, people aware of the matter said.