₹4,237 crore, or nearly 85% of the 2022-23 budget allocation for inoculation purposes. The Centre informed more than 1.8 crore doses are still available with the governments and the stock is sufficient to continue the vaccination drive for around six months. "Any decision on whether to procure Covid vaccine doses through the government channel or get (fresh) budget allocations for the purpose after six months will depend on the coronavirus situation prevailing in the country at that time," an official source told PTI.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive which began on January 16 last year, the Government of India has been supporting states and Union territories by providing them COVID-19 vaccines free of cost.
Since the Covid cases have been low, a sense of complacency has grown among people and there has not been much demand of vaccines even though the government conducted a 75-day drive -- 'Covid Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava' -- to administer booster doses to all adults free of cost. "Considering this and the vaccines in the stockpile nearing their expiry date, the decision has been taken not to procure any more vaccines for now.
Also, the Union Health Ministry has surrendered to the Finance Ministry the balance of ₹4,237.14 crore from its 2022-23 budget allocation of ₹5,000 crore for inoculation purposes," the source said. (With inputs from agencies) .