Questioning public expenditure on vaccine procurement and administration, the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in a study estimated the spending on the drive at a maximum of Tk 167.21 billion.
But a month ago, the government claimed it had spent Tk 400 billion on sourcing Covid-19 vaccine and its jabbing management which is double the TIB's estimate.
Besides, the international graft watchdog shows average treatment cost per Covid case at public hospital was Tk 35,938 and it was 12 times higher at Tk 458,537 at private hospital.
The findings of a study styled 'Governance Challenges in Tackling COVID-19 Crisis: Inclusion and Transparency' done by the TIB were revealed during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, TIB adviser Prof Dr Sumaiya Khair, director Mohammad Rafiqul Hasan, and senior research fellow Shahzada M Akram, among others, spoke on the occasion.
"The process of spending money countrywide on mass inoculation was not transparent as information regarding the activity was not disclosed in a proper way," says Dr Zaman.
"Although the health minister claimed Tk 400 was spent on purchasing and inoculating the vaccine, as per our estimation, it shouldn't be more than Tk 160-180 billion," he adds.
On March 10, health and family affairs minister Zahid Maleque said, "The government has spent Tk 400 billion on buying 220-million Covid-19 vaccine and administering the doses."
He was addressing a discussion, marking World Kidney Day-2022 at the National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology in the capital.
In July 2021, the ministry in a briefing stated that the cost per vaccine was Tk 3,000.
The TIB shows Bangladesh sourced a total of 296.4-million doses of different brands as of 31 March 2022. Of them, 243.6-million doses have been jabbed.
Of the total doses, about 92-million doses (Covishield 15 million) and (Sinopharm 77 million) were procured under bilateral agreements at Tk 71.83 billion.
Covishield was purchased at Tk 425 or US$ 5.0 per dose and Sinopharm at Tk 850 or $10.
Under the WHO-led COVAX initiative (cost sharing), Bangladesh procured 87-million doses of Sinopharm and Sinovac at Tk 40.72 billion, Tk 468 or $5.5 per dose.
It also received 117-million doses for free under the COVAX initiative and from different countries.
The TIB estimates that Tk 41.42 billion would be needed to spend on vaccination planning and administration.
In total, the overall cost of the vaccine drive would cost within Tk 129.93 billion to Tk 167.21 billion which is barely half of the government's claim.
So far, 74.96 per cent of the total population, or 127.7 million, have taken the first dose of the vaccine and 66 per cent or 112.4 million the second dose. The study shows people had to spend at least Tk 399 to do a corona test at a government facility and Tk 3,381 at a private hospital.
The TIB included transportation, test fee and others expenditure in the cost.
Due to scarcity of timely medical treatment, at least 7.8-per cent cases seeking medicare at hospitals have died and 11.8 per cent experienced prolonged health complexities, it concludes.
