Private hospitals to get limited portion of Covishield vaccine at Rs 600 per dose: SII

Amid the ongoing public scepticism about the pricing of Covishield vaccine, the Serum Institute of India (SII) on Saturday said only a limited portion of its vaccines will be sold to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose.

In a statement the company said in light of the current dire situation it has to ensure sustainability and must be able to invest in scaling up and expanding the production capacity.

"Only a limited portion of Serum Institute of India's volume will be sold to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose. The price of the vaccine is still lower than a lot of other medical treatment and essentials required to treat COVID19 and other life-threatening diseases," SII said in a statement.

"Government procurement for countrywide immunisation programs in all countries including India has been at a far lower price as the volumes are very large," SII said in a statement.

"For instance, based on the market conditions, prices of many vaccines in the private market including our pneumococcal vaccine are sold at a higher free-economy price, whereas for the government it is almost one-third of the free market price," SII said.

SII mentioned, "Furthermore, there was an inaccurate comparison done between the global prices of the vaccine with India. Covishield is the most affordable Covid-19 vaccine available in the market today."

Serum, which produces the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at its Pune facility, said that initial prices were kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by some countries for vaccine manufacturing.

"The initial prices were kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by those countries for at-risk vaccine manufacturing. The initial supply price of Covishield for all government immunisation programme, including India, has been the lowest," the statement reads.

Furthermore, in the interest of public health, it is important for the market to open-up for other vaccines from across the world. This will accelerate and advance the immunisation program of our country, SII added.

Earlier this week, the company had fixed the prices of Covishield vaccine at Rs 400 per dose for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.

( With inputs from ANI )