Vaccine will have to be purchased if cases surge, FM’s reply on how that 1000 crore would be utilised

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If the spread of Covid in the state continues like this and if there is a third wave, vaccine will have to be purchased, said Finance Minister K N Balagopal. He said the Rs 1000 crore earmarked to buy vaccine in the budget have been put aside.

The Central Government provides vaccine free of cost to the state. P C Vishnunath had demanded the government to inform the assembly on how the Rs 1,000 crore announced in the budget will be utilised. The minister was replying to this.

Meantime, the spread of Covid in Kerala continues unabated. The virus was confirmed on 23,676 people yesterday. Covid was confirmed to have caused 148 deaths in the past few days. With this, the total death toll has touched 17,103.