Free doses for all are a costly affair, at least for the government who is now looking at an increased budget of Rs 45,000 cr for the vaccination drive.
As per sources, the govt will have to budget for an extra Rs 10,000 cr to offer free vaccines for all form June 21, reports Reuters. The previous budget for the vaccine drive was seen at Rs 35,000 cr by the govt.
India though has vaccinated more people than the US is still yet to cover a meaningful proportion of the population with under 5% of India's estimated adult population of 950 million vaccinated.