India is all set to expand its vaccination programme against novel coronavirus disease from May 1. Under the new SOPs released by the government of India, people above the age of 18 will be eligible to take vaccine shots. Amid this, the manufacturers are gearing up for procuring enough vaccine doses. The government has allotted an aide of Rs 3,000 crore to Serum Institute of India to manufacture its vaccine candidate Covishield while Rs 1,500 crore funding has been passed for Bharat Biotech whose Covaxin is also being administered.
As per the GoI, the states are now free to directly purchase vaccine directly from the manufacturers. Amid this, vaccine makers have set prices for their vaccine candidates. SII, which is world’s largest vaccine maker by volume, has said that it will sell Rs 400 per dose to state government, while Rs 600 per dose of the vaccine will be sold to private hospitals. Meanwhile, it also added that government of India will continue to receive the vaccine at a price of Rs 150 per dose.
Notably, Indians getting vaccine administered at Rs 600 per dose with Covishield will be highest price for this vaccine in anywhere in the world. The vaccine developed by University of Oxford in collaboration with AstraZeneca has been shipped to many countries by producer SII. However, one dose of this vaccine priced at Rs 600 for hospitals is the highest price for this vaccine. It is noteworthy that Serum CEO Adar Poonwalla had earlier said that the firm was making profit even at a price of Rs 150 dose.
He also floated the Rs 1,000 per dose ($13) rate after the first shipment went out telling ANI: “We have given a special price of Rs 200 for the first 100 million doses only to the Government of India… and, after that, we will be selling at Rs 1,000 in private markets.”
Even the Rs 400 procurement price — applicable to both State and new Central procurement orders — is costlier than the price at which governments in countries such as the US, UK and in the European Union are receiving the vaccine directly from AstraZeneca.
The Central government had initially valued the cost of Covishield to Rs 150 plus GST, or around $2.02, per dose. However, Poonawalla has made it clear that the firm’s subsidized rate of Rs 150 per dose to the government was only for a “limited” period of time.
“This is based on the Modi government’s request, and we’ve risen to the occasion, sacrificed profits — I wouldn’t say we’re not making any profits — but we’ve sacrificed what we would call ‘super profits’, which we would need to further build capacity, innovate and compete with the Western companies,” Poonawalla told NDTV on April 6.
