Over 3.28 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered on the Chinese mainland as of Monday, according to data released by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Tuesday. The National Healthcare Security Administration said that China has spent more than 120 billion yuan (around $18.9 billion) on COVID-19 vaccination, an expenditure within the limits of the country's medical insurance funds. China launched programs to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 for free in February 2021. The cost of vaccine procurement and inoculation is mostly covered by the country's medical insurance funds and government budget.