NEW DELHI, 21 Apr: Serum Institute of India”s Covishield vaccine will cost private hospitals Rs 600 per dose and state governments Rs 400, a rate which will also apply to central government procurement once the existing contract for Rs 150 a dose ends, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
The world”s largest vaccine maker announced pricing of AstraZeneca shots it manufactures at its Pune facility, following the government decision to open up inoculation to all citizens above 18 years of age.
“Going ahead, 50 percent of our capacities will be served to the Government of India”s vaccination program, and the remaining 50 percent of the capacity will be for the state governments and private hospitals,” the Serum Institute of India (SII) said in a statement.
With government giving manufacturers and importers pricing freedom, SII said Covishield vaccines will be priced at Rs 400 per dose for state governments and Rs 600 for private hospitals.
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 CNBC-TV18 that the central government too will be charged Rs 400 once the initial contract for 100 million doses ends.
He also said SII will be able to raise its monthly output of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University Covid-19 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.
Covishield comprises over 90 per cent of the 12.76 crore COVID-19 vaccines administered across the country so far, according to government data on Wednesday.
Of the 127,605,870 COVID-19 vaccination jabs administered till now, 11,60,65,107 are of Covishield, while 1,15,40,763 are Covaxin, according to the government”s CO-WIN portal. (PTI)