As India makes efforts to widen the ambit of its coronavirus vaccination drive beginning May 1, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) on Wednesday issued fresh prices of its Covishield vaccine — Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals and Rs 400 per jab for State Governments. Another jab manufacturer Bharat Biotech is yet to come out with its prices list. 

Presently, one can get the jab free of cost in the Government set-up while in the private sector, these are available at Rs 250 per dose under the national vaccination programme launched from January 16 for those above 45 years of age.

However, under the new liberalised vaccination policy, while the State Governments can acquire the vaccines at a price of Rs 400 per dose, the private hospitals will get the vaccines at the price of Rs 600 per dose, said the SII in a statement here even as it shared data on the comparative prices of jabs being sold in other countries of other makers.

It pointed out that the Covishield shot is cheaper than the international vaccines.

The comparison has revealed that while American vaccines cost Rs 1,500 per dose, Chinese and Russian vaccines cost Rs 750 per dose. However, meanwhile, the Congress and the Left hit out at the Government over a higher price fixed for the States for Covishield. The parties have demanded uniform pricing for the Covid-19 vaccine for both the Centre and the States.

The SII chief executive Adar Poonawalla said in a statement on Wednesday said the company will serve 50 per cent of the total production to the Central Government’s vaccination programme, and the remaining 50 per cent of the capacity will be for the State Governments and private hospitals.

The SII, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, urged the corporate entities and private individuals to access the vaccines through the State facilitated machinery and private health systems and assured that the vaccine will be made available in the open market in around four to five months’ time.

Everyone above 18 years of age will be eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19 from May 1, the Central Government said on Monday as it liberalised the vaccination drive to allow States, private hospitals and industrial establishments to procure the doses directly from manufacturers.