Covishield Price News: Serum Institute Clarifies Saying Covishield Is Most Affordable Covid Vaccine

Pune, 24 April 2021 – The Serum Institute of India has clarified the controversy over the pricing of COVID shield injections. The Serum Institute has said that Covidshield remains the most affordable vaccine. It says that it’s inaccurate to compare this price of vaccine with other global vaccines and that serum is to drop India says 600 rupees per dose is only to private hospitals.

As far as the government vaccine is concerned or delivery to the government is concerned, It’s 400 rupees. The price of the COVID shield for the government’s immunization program is the lowest anywhere in the world.

Concerns have been raised right from the very beginning when the Serum Institute of India CEO even spoke to the media talking about the fact that he’s going to be selling the vaccine at 400 rupees a dose. There was a bit of confusion about whether this is the price that’s going to be given at which the vaccine is going to be given to the center as well. But let me tell you that the center and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have clarified saying that this is not the price of Vaccine they are going to buy.

We are going to be buying the set 150 rupees per dose that essentially remains unchanged. At this after Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh raised questions about why there are different prices at which the vaccine is being sold to the center and different prices to the state. Raising questions on differential treatment, which state is going to procure the vaccine at which cost is going to be then single-handedly be decided by the Serum Institute of India, which is not a fair deal. Others also raised these questions on why a vaccine which is made in India in the Pune Facility of Serum Institute of India be so expensive.

It’s costing more than $5. And that is the most expensive vaccine in the world against COVID-19. Also remember, this is the vaccine, which is going to be in the market and no other country is selling its vaccine at present like India is going to start to do so. The state will buy vaccines and then they will give them to the private hospitals. That’s going to be the procurement process. The deal here is that Serum Institute has clarified coming up and saying that we need this money right now, there’s that the situation is rather uncertain.

And they said this, in a press statement that they put out that the situation demands that they be prepared for situations where the virus is mutating, and where they could be required not to ramp up production, but also look at the vaccine in such a way perhaps to meet the new challenges.

The clarification is what they’re saying it is right now that they need this money. They need this financial input to then ramp up their production even further. Because the situation is uncertain, is that they’ve gone on to say this either that we need this money. They’ve also said that the virus is mutating. Now, the reason why that they are selling this to the Center 450 rupees a dose is because they have to jump up the production. This is a deal that stands, this negotiation with the center and the private players has been according to what they say is justified right now because they are unsure of the near future.

The center is also, however, clarified in that the Ministry of Health saying that 150 rupees a dose is what it stands for and free of cost to those people at the government hospitals. So nothing changes. The Serum Institute has said that at this point, we feel 150 rupees a dose is a special price is what Adar Poonawalla has said time and again, giving it because we are in the middle of a pandemic and we need to step in with the sense of trying to inoculate as many people as it can.

But, the state has to pay a new price for it. Because the situation is very different from what it was about two months ago when the deal was done with the Government of India and hence the new practice.