NEW DELHI: The Serum Institute of India (SII) on Wednesday announced that the price of Covishield will be Rs 400 per dose in government hospitals and Rs 600 in private hospitals.
Amid the exponential surge in COVID-19 cases, the next phase of vaccination will begin on May 1 in which everyone above 18 years is allowed to take the jab. So far, Indian drug regulators have approved three vaccines for use in the country. Besides ‘Covidshield’ manufactured by SII and ‘Covaxin’ by Bharat Biotech, the Drugs Controller General India (DCGI) on April 13 gave its nod for the emergency use of the third COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik-V.
In accordance with the new policy of the government, 50 per cent of vaccine doses will be kept separate for the Centre and the remaining will be divided between states and private hospitals. The Centre had on April 18 given in-principle approval for credit to vaccine-makers – the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. The Finance Ministry has okayed the sanction of Rs 3,000 crore credit for the SII and Rs 1,500 crore to Bharat Biotech.
Earlier, Adar Poonawalla, the SII CEO, had suggested that the company would need approximately Rs 3,000 crore to increase the production of COVID-19 vaccines.
