The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr VG Somani on Sunday, January 3, approved Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for emergency use against coronavirus. With this, the much-awaited approval by DGCI paved the way for the roll-out of these vaccines in India.
The vaccination drive for the vaccine against COVID-19 is expected to begin in India in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the SII CEO Adar Poonawalla revealed the prices of Covishield and disclosed that his company has fixed two different prices for the vaccine. The vaccine manufacturer is likely to charge a special price of ₹200 per dose for the first 100 million jabs which it will supply to the Government of India.
In an interview, Poonawalla said that that the Covishield vaccine is likely to cost ₹1,000 per dose when it is available in the open market and for private use.
“As of now, the SII cannot export or sell in the open market its COVID-19 vaccine. However, after it will be available for sale in the market, the tenders will be drawn and the price will also change. I want to make it clear that whatever we give to the government will be given to the people for free. Also, since the vaccine requires a booster dose, the total cost will be ₹2,000,” said Poonawalla.
He, however, added that the SII has prepared enough stock of the vaccine for the government as well as the private market.
"Five crore doses of corona vaccine are available at the institute and we have sent a proposal to the government. All the formalities will be completed in the next seven to 10 days after the government accepts the proposal. We will produce seven to eight crore vaccines for supply in a month," said Adar Poonawalla.
Moreover, on Saturday, January 2, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said the vaccines would be given free of cost to priority groups in the first phase.
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