How govt spent Rs 35,000 crore on procuring Covid-19 vaccines | RTI Exclusive
India Today
An RTI inquiry by India Today has disclosed how the Centre spent Rs 35,000 on procuring Covid-19 vaccines.
The Ministry of Health announced last week that the precautionary third dose of Covid-19 vaccine would be available for the age group of 18-59 years on payment at private centres from April 10.
The Congress opposed this policy, with spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi panning the government for ostensibly promoting private profiteering and creating divisions in society between those who can pay for the vaccine and those who cannot.
The main opposition party urged the Centre to revisit the policy and give universal access to vaccines, free of cost.
The government may have its own reasons for not making the precautionary dose free of cost for those over the age of 18 but under 60. Healthcare workers, frontline workers and those 60 and above can avail the third booster dose for free.
READ | Covid-19 precaution dose for all adults: The why and how of booster doses
This discrepancy has thrown up certain questions: how much money has the government allocated for vaccination, and how much has been spent and who got how much. India Today filed Right to Information (RTI) applications to find out.
In response to our query dated February 4, 2022, the Department of Health and Family Welfare said, "As per the announcement in Parliament during Budget session 2021, Rs 35,000 crore have been provisioned in the Union Budget of 2021-2022 for Covid-19 vaccination.”
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