Free vaccination drive to cost Indian government Rs 45,000 crore: Report

Free vaccination drive to cost Indian government Rs 45,000 crore: Report

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Monday, June 07, 2021, 11:41 PM IST
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Free vaccination drive to cost Indian government Rs 45,000 crore: Report/ file | AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that all COVID-19 vaccines will be procured by the government of India and given to the States for free.

According to BloombergQuint, this will cost the Centre Rs 45,000 crore, that is over Rs 10,000 crore more than estimated in the union budget, said a government official who preferred to remain unnamed.

Addressing the nation, the PM said, "25 per cent of vaccination work with states will now be handled by the Centre, it will be implemented in the coming two weeks. Both state and centre to work as per new guidelines in the coming two weeks.”

He added from June 21 the free vaccine for people above 18 years will be made available.

In a 33-minute TV address to the nation, PM Modi also announced free ration to 80 crore people; the scheme will take off in May and continue till Diwali, i.e. for five more months till November 4. The news report stated this will cost the government Rs 1.3 lakh crore.

Scrapping the policy effective since May 1, which allowed the states to procure 25% per cent of the vaccine stock from the manufacturers, the Prime Minister announced that the Centre would now obtain 75 per cent of the production, including 50 per cent it was already procuring, and supply it to the states for free distribution; it will also inform the states about the supplies weeks beforehand.

For those who can afford to pay, the private hospitals will come into play. These hospitals will acquire the remaining 25 per cent vaccines directly from the manufacturers, with a rider that they will not charge more than Rs 150 per dose as "service charges," the supervision for which will be left up to the state governments, Modi said.

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