Actors Farhan Akhtar, Sonu Sood question Serum Institute for disparity in prices between Centre, states

Bollywood actors Farhan Akhtar and Sonu Sood on Wednesday questioned why the Serum Institute of India (SII) was not providing its Covishield vaccine at the same price to the centre and the states.

Taking a dig at the world's largest vaccine manufacturer SII, which released the rate card for Covishield vaccines today, Bollywood actors Farhan Akhtar and Sonu Sood took to their Twitter handles and questioned the company over the disparity in rates of the vaccine to the centre and the states.

Farhan wrote, "Can a spokesperson for the @SerumInstIndia please help us understand why states should not get Covishield at the same price as the centre?? And if they have issued a statement citing reasons, could someone please share a link re the same. Thank you."

Sonu who tested positive for COVID-19 a few days back also stressed on providing free vaccinations to those who are needy. He tweeted, "Every needy should get vaccine for free. Very important to put a cap on the pricing. Corporates and individuals who can afford should come forward to help everyone get vaccinated."

"Dhandha phir kabhi aur kar lenge. (Do business some other time)," he added.

The tweets from the actors came a few hours after the SII announced the rate cards for Covishield vaccines for states and centre ahead of May 1 COVID-19 vaccination drive, which will make everyone above 18 years of age eligible to get vaccinated.

According to media statements, the institute had fixed the prices of the Covishield vaccine at Rs 400 per dose for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.

As of now, SII is selling Covishield to the Centre at Rs 150 per dose. Additionally, those who are eligible for the vaccine at present can get it at Rs 250 per dose from private hospitals.

According to the ministry, the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has reached 13,01,19,310 with 29,90,197 vaccine doses being given in a span of 24 hours, according to data updated at 7 am.

Bollywood stars including l Kapoor, Neena Gupta, Anupam Kher, Hema Malini, Johnny Lever, Saif Ali Khan, Kamal Haasan and Satish Shah have received vaccination shots.

Meanwhile, the second wave of coronavirus has infected many people, and the number of COVID-19 positive cases has been rapidly rising.

An array of celebrities like Govinda, Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar and more have also got infected within a span of a few weeks.

According to the latest reports provided by the state health ministry on Tuesday, 58,924 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Maharashtra in the last 24 hours. As many as 52,412 people recovered in the said period and 351 died. The total case tally reached 38,98,262 while the death toll reached 60,824.

( With inputs from ANI )