Free vaccines may require states to spend a third of their health Budget

While Covishield could erode a third of states' health bill if they bear the full cost, approval of the Pfizer jab would double the health spend

India is nearing the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine after conditional and emergency-use regulatory approvals to two candidates, and states would soon become the primary coordination centres for the administration drives, including prioritisation and logistics.

Till now, no one really knows what cost this quasi-universal vaccination may entail. There is no clarity about the proportion of population that needs to be inoculated, though starting early and moving quickly is the key. 

Assuming that 70 per cent of the population will be inoculated in all states, in line with the level suggested by the World Health Organisation for achieving herd immunity, a