After announcing January 16 as the day for launching countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive, the Government on Monday placed a purchase order with Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 million doses of Covishield — anti-Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University — each costing Rs 210, including GST of Rs 10.
The HLL Lifecare Limited, a public sector undertaking issued the supply order on behalf of the Union Health Ministry in the name of Prakash Kumar Singh, Additional Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Pune-based pharma company.
The Covishield vaccine doses would be initially shipped to 60 consignment points from where they would be distributed further.
The Ministry is also likely to soon sign a purchase order for another anti-coronavirus vaccine, Covaxin, which has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech. India top drug regulator DCGI had recently granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) to two vaccines, Oxford’s Covishield, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. Both vaccines, according to a statement from the Health Ministry, have established safety and immunogenicity.
Coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford will be priced around Rs 1,000 in private market once such sales open up, said Adar Poonawala, CEO of its Indian manufacturer on Monday.
After vaccinating around three crore healthcare and frontline workers, priority will be given to those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities, together numbering around 27 crore.
The institute has entered into a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the Covishield vaccine. SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has a license to produce the shot and has already manufactured close to 50 million dose.
