SII cuts Covishield price for state govts

NEW DELHI: Serum Institute of India (SII) -- the maker of the most used Covid-19 vaccine in the country -- on Wednesday announced a cut in price of the jab it plans to sell to states to ₹300 per dose from the earlier ₹400.

This follows widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it had sold the initial doses of Covishield, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and Astrazeneca, to the central government at ₹150 per dose.

SII chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla took to Twitter to announce the “philanthropic” gesture.

“As a philanthropic gesture on behalf of @Seruminstindia, I hereby reduce the price to the states from ₹400 to ₹300 per dose, effective immediately; this will save thousands of crores of state funds going forward. This will enable more vaccinations and save countless lives,” he said.

The Centre has empowered states to procure additional vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers.