The central government on Monday announced that everyone above the age of 18 will be eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the vaccination drive beginning May 1. Vaccine manufacturers have been incentivised to further scale up their production, as well as attract new national and international players. They are empowered to release up to 50 per cent of their supply to state governments and in the open market at a pre-declared price.
States are empowered to procure additional vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers, as well as open up vaccination to any category of people above the age of 18 for the same.
However, from May 1, the corona vaccine will not be available in medical stores. Therefore, citizens will have to go to hospitals or vaccination centers to get themselves vaccinated. The government has allowed emergency use of the vaccines.
Therefore, vaccination has to be done following the guidelines issued by the central government. Therefore, the corona vaccine will not be available in medical, said a senior official in the Ministry of Health. The effects of vaccine after a person takes it is recorded on the Co-win app and studied later by experts.
Most companies that produce corona vaccines want to keep the price of per dose between Rs 700 and Rs 1,000. At present, the government has fixed the price of per dose of corona vaccine at Rs 250. A few days ago, Adar Punawala, CEO of Serum Institute of India, said that the price of Covishield vaccine in the open market will be around Rs 1,000 per dose.
Russia's Sputnik V got approval from the Subject expert committee (SEC) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to get clearance in India. The first batch of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V will be delivered to India in April.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has entered into an agreement with a Russian company to manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine. This vaccine is said to be more effective than Covaxin and Covishield. A single dose of Sputnik V vaccine can cost up to Rs 750. However, no decision has been taken yet.
An English newspaper contacted the manufacturers to find out the exact price of the vaccine. However, he said the price was not fixed. It is not yet clear how many doses companies will be allowed to sell in the private market. The price will be fixed once the picture is clear, the manufacturer said.