On Tuesday, CEO Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India (SII) reported that the Central Government has procured the Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covishield’ at a “special price” and that the SII aims to sell the vaccine on private markets at Rs 1,000 per vial.
Poonawalla was upbeat about the historical moment that his factory was dispatching the country’s first Covid-19 vaccine. He said that the SII’s biggest challenge is to supply everybody in the country with the vaccine by the end of this year.
The CEO of the SII, speaking about the Covishiled vaccine that the government will use in its mega vaccination campaign, said, “We have given a special price of Rs 200 for the first 100 million doses only to the Government of India on its request because we want to support the common man, vulnerable, poor, healthcare workers and all the underprivileged.”
“We decided not to make any profit, we wanted to support the nation and the govt for the first 100 million doses,” he said.
He then declared that the Covishield vaccine would be marketed in private markets at Rs 1,000 per vial by the SII.
Adar Poonawalla has asserted that even after the supply of 100 million units, he will retain a very fair price for the government, but it will be a little bit
Talking about the production of the vaccine, Poonawalla said, “We make 70-80 million doses every month. Planning is underway to see how many will be given to India and foreign countries. Health Ministry has made logistics plans. We also have a partnership with private players for trucks, vans and cold storage.”
It should be noted that in the early hours of Tuesday, ahead of the start of the national vaccination campaign on January 16, the first consignment containing vials of the Covishield vaccine was dispatched from the SII in Pune.
Three trucks carrying the very first consignment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine left for Pune airport to be flown to 13 locations around Pune in the midst of tight security.
Delhi, Karnal, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubhaneshwar, Kolkata and Guwahati are among the places.
