GAVI said it was in talks with the government about a support package. (Figurative)
New Delhi:
India will have to spend between $ 1.4 billion and $ 1.8 billion on the first phase of a coronavirus vaccination program, even after receiving support under the global COVAX vaccine exchange scheme, according to estimates from the GAVI vaccine alliance.
India, which has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus cases behind the United States, plans to inoculate 300 million people in the next six to eight months, likely with vaccines from Russia’s AstraZeneca, Russia’s Sputnik, Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech from India.
Documents reviewed by Reuters underscore the scale of the funding challenge India faces to immunize its vast population, with 600 million injections needed in the first wave alone for critical workers and those most at risk from COVID-19.
If India were to receive between 190 and 250 million injections of the vaccine at COVAX facilities, at best the government would need to raise about $ 1.4 billion to make up the shortfall, according to an unpublished report prepared for the three. GAVI days. board meeting that started Tuesday.
On the other hand, if India were to receive a smaller allocation of 95-125 million doses, then the cost to the government of acquiring additional injections would amount to $ 1.8 billion.
By comparison, India’s 2020/21 federal budget allocated just under $ 10 billion for healthcare.
India’s health and finance ministries did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.
SUPPORT PACKAGE
The COVAX plan, co-led by the World Health Organization and GAVI, aims to provide poor and middle-income countries with diagnostic tests, drugs, and vaccines through a fund known as the COVID-19 Tool Access Accelerator. (ACT), created last April.
The government has not provided an estimate of the cost of its vaccine program, although it has said that all resources will be provided to protect the population.
GAVI, an alliance of governments, pharmaceutical companies, charities and international organizations, said it was in talks with the government about a support package.
“Providing a low end of support would exacerbate the country’s ability to allocate sufficient resources to mitigate the risks of continued transmission of COVID-19,” the GAVI report said.
The GAVI report identified India’s economic burden from the pandemic as “disproportionate” and suggested a donor-funded plan of $ 1.3 billion to secure 190-250 million doses. The plan must be approved by the GAVI alliance board.
Under a vaccination plan shared with international donors, India aims to vaccinate 10 million frontline health workers by February, 20 million essential workers by the following month, and then 270 million people by August, mostly people over 50 and people with other health problems that make them more vulnerable.
India also needed between $ 30 million and $ 80 million for infrastructure to transport and store vaccines that must be kept at very low temperatures, according to the GAVI report.
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