New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced that the Centre is taking lower back vaccine-shopping for from states, the Finance Ministry stated the programme will price round ₹ 50,000 crore and the authorities has the money.
“We do not want to head for the supplementary offers straight away as there are sufficient finances. We can also additionally ought to cross for this withinside the 2d round, close to the iciness consultation of Parliament. At gift we’ve the money,” Finance Ministry reassets stated.
The reassets additionally indicated that the authorities is now no longer relying on overseas vaccines to fulfill its vaccine needs.
“Our programme of procurement is concentrated round Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute and the brand new Bio-E; we are able to be capable of deliver vaccines for the sizable populace from those vaccines,” reassets stated.
Talks with Pfizer and Moderna are reportedly caught at the indemnity call for through the vaccine makers and their insistence that disputes in India associated with their vaccines be taken up in US courts only.
“At gift Moderna has no plan to go into until January subsequent year,” stated Finance Ministry reassets.
Besides Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, Russia’s Sputnik V has been cleared to be used withinside the country.
But Sputnik “will now no longer be sizable” in number, stated officials, adding, “We have not began out procurement for this still.”
The authorities closing week stated it has booked 30 crore doses of Hyderabad-primarily based totally Biological-E’s Covid vaccine, which remains in medical trials. The Health Ministry will make an strengthen price of ₹ 1,500 crore to the employer for what is going to be the second one made-in-India vaccine after Covaxin.
The Supreme Court had closing week requested the Centre to offer information of all vaccine purchases made so far.
Government reassets nowadays stated from January to thirty first July, a complete of 53.6 crore vaccine doses might be to be had to be used. The Centre sold 12 crore vaccine doses among March and May at a price of ₹ 1,890 crore. Another sixteen crore doses of vaccine had been ordered on May five — for May, June and July — for ₹ 2,520 crore, reassets stated.
The finances for each purchases had been drawn from the Budget, reassets stated. ₹ a hundred and fifty changed into introduced to the price of every vaccine dose attributable to GST or Goods and Services tax, reassets stated.
Besides, 6.6 crore doses had been bought from the PM-CARES Fund. These consist of five.6 million doses of Covishield and 10 million doses of Covaxin. For this, ₹ 1,392.825 crore changed into paid, reassets stated.
States, union territories and personal hospitals additionally made direct buy of the vaccine – which introduced as much as 18 crore doses of Covishield, five crore doses of Covaxin and 20 million doses of Sputnik V.
In addition, 10 million doses of Covishield had been obtained from the Gavi Covax facility, that have already been placed into use.
