India will have to spend $1.8 bn on Covid-19 vaccines in Phase 1: Report

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will have to spend $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion in the first phase of a coronavirus vaccination programme, even after getting support under the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme, according to estimates by the GAVI vaccines alliance.

India, which has the world’s second highest caseload of coronavirus behind the United States, plans to inoculate 300 million people over the next six to eight months, likely with vaccines from AstraZeneca, Russia’s Sputnik, Zydus Cadila and India’s own Bharat Biotech.

Documents reviewed by Reuters underline the scale of the funding challenge India faces to immunise its vast population, with 600