Covishield, Covaxin prices slashed to Rs 225 per dose for private hospitals

New Delhi: Vaccine majors Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech on Saturday said they have decided to cut prices of the precaution dose of their respective Covid vaccines to Rs 225 per shot for private hospitals after discussion with the government.

"We are pleased to announce that after discussion with the Central government, SII has decided to revise the price of COVISHIELD vaccine for private hospitals from Rs 600 to Rs 225 per dose," SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet.

On Friday, the company had said that the precaution dose of its Covishield vaccine against COVID-19 will be priced at Rs 600 per shot for eligible individuals.

Bharat Biotech Co-Founder Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella in a tweet said: "We welcome the decision to make available precautionary dose for all adults. In consultation with the Central Government, we have decided to revise the price of #COVAXIN from Rs 1,200 to Rs 225 per dose, for #privatehospitals."

SII and Bharat Biotech have been major suppliers of Covid vaccines to the government so far.

The Centre on Saturday told the states that the precaution dose will be of the same Covid vaccine as the one used for the administration of the first two doses and that private vaccination centres can charge up to a maximum of Rs 150 per dose as a service charge over and above the cost of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, India reported a single-day rise of 1,150 new Covid cases, taking the infection tally in the country to 4,30,34,217, while the count of active cases fell to 11,365, according to the Union Health ministry on Saturday.

The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,21,656 with 83 daily fatalities being reported, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.

The count of active cases currently comprises 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate is at 98.76 per cent, the ministry said.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 185.68 crore on Saturday, the ministry said. More than 12 lakh (12,55,277) doses were administrated on Saturday till 7 pm, it said. It added that over 2.21 crore (2,21,44,238) doses have been administered to children in the 12-14 years age group so far. Over 2.43 crore (2,43,08,220) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare and frontline workers, and to those above 60 so far, the ministry said.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, who held an orientation meeting of the health secretaries of all the states and Union Territories on Saturday, also informed that no fresh registration would be required for the precaution dose as all due beneficiaries are already registered on the CoWIN platform.

It was emphasised that all vaccinations must mandatorily be recorded on CoWIN and both the options of "online appointment" and "walk-in" registration and vaccination will be available at the private Covid vaccination centres (CVCs).

The private CVCs will maintain the vaccination sites in accordance with the guidelines issued earlier by the Union Health ministry.

"They can charge up to a maximum of Rs 150 per dose as service charge for vaccination over and above the cost of the vaccine," Bhushan said.

"Administration of precaution dose will be homologous — same vaccine type will be used for precaution dose which was used for vaccination of first and second dose," he stated.

Healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) and citizens aged 60 years and above shall continue to receive the precaution dose at the vaccination centres, including free vaccination at the government vaccination centres, Bhushan underlined.

A detailed orientation of the state officials was done on various new provisions made on CoWIN for the expansion of the eligible population for the precaution dose and also for the correction of the vaccination certificates by citizens.

The states were also advised to accelerate the administration of the ongoing free Covid vaccination with the first dose and the second dose to the population above 12 years of age and for optimal administration of the precaution dose for the HCWs, the FLWs and those aged 60 and above at the government CVCs.

Additional Secretary (Health) Dr Manohar Agnani and other senior officers of the Union Health ministry were present at the virtual meeting, along with the health secretaries, NHM mission directors and other officials fr