This estimate has been calculated by assuming 7% share for the private sector in the total vaccination so far and taking into account the changes in the pricing mechanism from January 16. covid Vaccination started.
But what is the basis for the assumption that 7% of vaccines are distributed by the private sector? While comprehensive data on this is not available in the public domain, as per the response of the junior health minister Parliament, a little over 7% of vaccinations were done by the private sector from 1 May to 15 July. Subsequent reports quoting government sources, including this newspaper, indicate that the ratio has not changed much.
Before the liberalized vaccine policy was implemented, out of 100 crore vaccines, 15.2 crore were administered by the end of April. Assuming the private sector did 7% of vaccinations in this period as well, it would account for just over one crore doses. At Rs 250 per dose, the rate of private vaccination at that time, individuals and employers would have paid about Rs 266 crore.
Government’s new on May 1 Liberalized pricing and quick national The Covid-19 vaccination strategy began. From May 1 to June 20, at the time of the liberalized strategy, 12.3 crore doses were administered. Since the share of the private sector was actually only 7%, it would have been responsible for around 86 lakh doses, which would have cost families and employers around Rs 690 crore (at a very conservative Rs 800 per dose).
From June 21, the government capped the amount private hospitals could charge for providing vaccines. Effectively, the caps were for Rs 780 and Rs 1,410 for each dose of Covishield covaxin. Since Covishield accounts for the bulk of vaccination, we have very conservatively estimated an average of Rs 800 per dose. Assuming equal share of private immunization, out of 748 crore doses administered between June 21 and October 24, about 5.2 crore doses would have been done in the private sector at a cost of only Rs 4,200 crore.
Taking all these figures together, households and employers spent about Rs 5,150 crore on private vaccines in the journey to the 100 crore mark.
How much did governments spend buying the vaccines they administered? Affidavit of the Center on June 26 Supreme court This shows that it had paid Rs 5,803 crore for the first 35 crore doses received till July. This leaves about 58 crore doses from its share of 93 crore in 100 crore doses. The government had announced that it would pay Bharat Biotech Rs.225 for each dose of Covaxin and Serum Institute Rs.215 for each dose of Covishield. Even if we take the higher figure of Rs 225 as average, the cost of 59 crore doses would be Rs 13,275 crore. Thus, the total cost of procuring the share of Rs 93 crore to the government for Rs 100 crore would be a little over Rs 19,000 crore.
Not all government supplements were bought by the Centre. Between May 1 and June 20, state governments also had to buy supplements from manufacturers at higher rates (Rs 300 for Covishield and Rs 600 for Covaxin). Let’s add another Rs 1,000 crore to cover this additional cost. Prior to this the total government expenditure on vaccine procurement for 100 crore doses is around Rs 20,000 crore and the total expenditure by governments and households comes to around Rs 25,150 crore.
Of course, this includes only procurement costs for governments. If we add Rs 150 (the amount allowed as administration fee for the private sector) for each dose administered by the government, it would be Rs 14,000 crore more. Several ministers have justified higher taxes on petroleum as a means to fund a free vaccination program. However, the cost of vaccination is only a fraction of the total money collected as taxes on fuel. In 2020-21, the year for which tax data for the full year is available, the Center collected Rs 4.5 lakh crore as tax on petroleum products, while state governments collected another Rs 2.2 lakh crore. In the first quarter of 2021-22 alone, the Center collected Rs 90,750 crore from fuel and Rs 61,613 crore by the states. Even the tax collected in a quarter seems to be much higher than the estimated cost of the entire Covid vaccination programme.
Free vaccination has been the norm in most countries. In fact, India is among a handful of countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand and Lebanon, that have allowed the sale of Covid vaccines in the private market.
.