Days after Serum Institute of India’s chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla tweeted  questioning if India has Rs 80,000 crore over the next one year for distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine to every person in the country, the Government on Tuesday dismissed the observation saying that it does not agree with the calculation cited by the drug maker.

The Union health ministry said that it does not agree with such calculations on social media and also maintained that the national expert vaccine administration panel met 5 times on modalities.

“In these meetings, we have mulled over Covid-19 vaccination distribution and the amount required for it in terms of prioritisation of population and the staggered immunisation for this prioritisation. For this, we have calculated the amount required in the meetings and currently, that amount is available with the government,” Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Health Ministry said at a press briefing here.

Meanwhile, the SII, which is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturing company, said that it would get a further USD 150 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the GAVI vaccines alliance to make an additional 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for India and other low- and middle-income countries next year.

The expanded deal will accelerate manufacturing and delivery of safe and effective coronavirus vaccines, which has been priced at a maximum of $3 per dose or Rs 250 per dose.

The collaboration builds upon an initial agreement signed in August by the company with the GAVI alliance and the Gates Foundation, with the total number of vaccine doses to be covered by the partnership now up to 200 million.