Mumbai: The vaccination drive for the recently approved coronavirus vaccine can start in the country from this month. On Sunday, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) VG Somani approved Serum Institute of India's 'Covishield' vaccine and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' for emergency use, paving the way for its roll-out and administration to millions.
Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India has revealed for the first time its pricing for the vaccine. CEO Adar Poonawalla disclosed the prices of his vaccine and informed that two different rates have been fixed.
For a long time, there was confusion about the prices of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Poonawala said that he would give the Oxford vaccine at the rate of Rs 250 ($ 3.42) per vaccine to the government. At the same time, this vaccine will be available in the private market for Rs 1,000. He said that this vaccine is cheaper than Pfizer-BioNTech and its transportation is also easy. His company is making 50-60 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine every month.
He added that by mid-2021, the government has targeted to vaccinate more than 130 crore people in the country. "We are ready to provide the vaccine for the government. We have sent our proposal and are waiting for the contract to be signed with the government. The vaccine will be made available to the government within 10 days of the contract," he said.
He added that the government has not yet given permission to export the vaccine. "We have bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia and some other countries. We have sought permission from the government in this regard. After getting this approval, we will be able to deliver our medicine to more than 50 countries of the world," he said.
Notably, the government is preparing in full swing to start the vaccination in India. For this, a dry run was done in all the states and union territories of the country on Saturday.
The AstraZeneca/Oxford shot, already approved in Britain, Argentina and El Salvador, will take the lead and Bharat Biotech`s COVAXIN will be administered under stricter conditions given no efficacy data has been released for it.
COVID-19 vaccines of Serum Institue of India and Bharat Biotech have been granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation, said Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday.
