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The government bought up to 267 million doses of COVID vaccines at a cost of £ 2.9 billion, according to the public spending watchdog.
And the National Audit Office (NAO) estimates that the total cost of purchasing and implementing vaccines, and investing in global access schemes, could reach £ 11.7 billion.
Any booster doses needed in the future would be on top of that.
The total cost of COVID-19 vaccines could reach £ 11.7 billion
It is the first time that an authorized figure has been assigned to the cost of launching the vaccine.
The government signed agreements with five companies for the supply of vaccines, and four of them agreed on priority access.
Non-binding agreements were also concluded for another 90 million doses with two others, including GSK / Sanofi – who announced last week that his vaccine would be delayed because it had not worked as well as expected.
The outlay includes £ 914 million in down payments for manufacturing and clinical trials.
Only one company agreed to reimburse the money in full if its vaccine failed to gain regulatory approval.
Two others agreed to a partial refund, and the last two refused to return the money.
Taxpayers may incur additional costs because four of the five companies with signed contracts demanded immunity from legal action and claims for damages, with no limit of liability to the government.
Congresswoman Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, praised scientists and the drug regulator for developing and approving vaccines so quickly.
“It was clearly okay to endorse multiple horses; no one could have known which vaccines would work or when they might be approved.
“But the accountability arrangements were very unusual, despite the huge sums of money involved.
The NAO report also reveals the extraordinary scale of the vaccine launch.
NHS England and NHS Improvement estimate that if three-quarters of the adult population had two doses of vaccine, they would need a total of 46,000 NHS employees, and 26,000 of them administered the injection.
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Gareth Davies, Director of the NAO, said: “Developing and ensuring an effective vaccine is critical to reducing the impact of COVID-19 about society and saving lives. “
He added: “The government has worked quickly and effectively to ensure access to potential vaccines, using available information to make big decisions at an inherently uncertain (time).”
