Serum’s Covishield
The pricing, however, came in for sharp criticism from Opposition parties who saw no logic in charging state governments higher rates when the Centre was getting the same vaccine at Rs 150 per dose. SII CEO Adar Poonawalla later told a private television channel that the Central government too will be charged Rs
400 once the initial contract for 100 million doses ends. “Let me clarify, it is not a different price. All government prices will be Rs 400 henceforth for new contracts,” he said.
“Please understand the Rs 150 price which is being thrown around has been for the Central government for prior commitments and contracts. After that ceases to exist, after we supply about 100 million doses to them, which was ordered in bulk a long time ago, we will also charge Rs 400 to any government,” he said.
So, after opening up of the policy, “the new price to the government is Rs 400 and for private hospitals, it is Rs 600,” he said. “Also to put it in context, it is half or onethird the price of most global vaccines.”
The previous pricing, Poonawalla said, was given without even knowing if the vaccine will work and it was a “risk sharing price” that was agreed for a limited amount of quantities. “Now that the vaccine is licensed and is showing good efficacy, we have now announced, based on the new policy of the government, these prices,” he said. He also said SII will be able to raise its monthly output of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID19 vaccine to 100 million doses by July from 60-70 million now, later than a previous timeline of end-May. India initially immunised the most vulnerable but broadened that to anyone over 45 years on April 1 because of a surge in cases. It has now allowed all citizens over 18 years of age to get vaccinated from May 1.
In the statement, the company also said for the next two months, it will address the issue of limited capacity by scaling up vaccine production. Considering the global vaccine prices, “we are ensuring that our vaccines are affordable in comparison to any other vaccines in the world,” SII said. The American vaccines in the private market cost more than Rs 1,500 per dose, while Russian and Chinese jabs cost more than Rs 750 per dose, it added.