Cost of vaccinating Indians between 18 and 45 is 0.36% of GDP: Report

India is set to spend a large sum of money to inoculate its population as the country prepares to vaccinate all aged above 18 years from May 1, 2021. According to a report by India Rating and Research, vaccinating all between the ages of 18 and 45 will cost just 0.36% of India's GDP.

The total cost to be borne by central and state exchequers will be Rs 67,193 crore, of which 0.24% of the GDP will be borne by states (Rs 46,323 crore) and the Centre will bear 0.12% of GDP (Rs 20,870 crore), according to the report.

The total size of the population that will be eligible for vaccination stands at over 84 crore out of a 133 crore total population.

Also Read | All you need to know about India's new Covid-19 vaccine policy

Under the new vaccine policy, from May 1, there will be two channels that supply the vaccine — 50 per cent will be from the Centre and the other 50 per cent will be available in the open market. State governments and private hospitals can procure vaccines directly from manufacturers in the second group.

Rs 5,090 crore was already spent to procure 214 million doses of both vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin. The remaining doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, 1.5 billion doses would cost Rs 62,210 crore. This amounts to just 0.36% of India's GDP.

Bihar is most likely to face the maximum impact when it comes to footing the bill for vaccines. Vaccination of all adults would cost Bihar 0.60% of its gross state domestic product (GSDP), followed by Uttar Pradesh (0.47%) and Jharkhand (0.37%).

Expenditure on vaccines is expected to be recurring at antibodies from the vaccines are expected to last between 12 and 18 months. However, several states such as Kerala, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have announced that they will bear the cost of vaccination.