India buys 11 mn vials from Serum at ₹200 each

A SPOKESPERSON FROM SII SAID THE FIRST SHIPMENT WILL LEAVE THE COMPANY’S PUNE PREMISES TODAY

NEW DELHI: The Union government signed an order on Monday to purchase 11 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) as part of the first tranche of Covid-19 shots in what is likely to be the world’s largest virus immunisation programme.

The purchase order, seen by HT, put the cost of each dose of the vaccine at ₹200 plus taxes. Another 45 million doses are scheduled to be bought by the government by April this year, the order added.The cost of the vaccine will remain the same for the first 100 million doses, said an industry executive on condition of anonymity.

A spokesperson from SII said the first shipment will leave the company’s Pune premises at 4.30am on Tuesday.

“When the PM announced that vaccine roll-out will start on January 16, then things had to move by now. We are sticking to the timelines and there will be no delays,” said a senior Union health ministry official, requesting anonymity. HLL Lifecare Limited, a public sector undertaking, issued the supply order on behalf of the government.

SII is the local manufacturer of the vaccine locally named Covishield. Two doses of the vaccine need to be taken by an individual 28 days apart to complete the immunisation schedule.

Protective levels of antibodies are generally developed two weeks after receiving the second dose.

The tranche of 11 million doses is expected to cover the first phase of vaccination involving 10 million health care workers. The government is keeping a margin of about 10% to factor in possible wastage, said government vaccination guidelines.