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Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN, India’s first indigenous vaccine against coronavirus. (Swarajya Magazine)
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday (12 January) said that the government has placed an order of 110 lakh vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII) and 55 lakh doses from Bharat Biotech.
These supplies are bound to reach various centres across the country by 14 January.
Bhushan also informed that individuals will not have a choice over their preferred Covid-19 vaccines due to the logistical limitations and the availability of the vaccine.
The SII will be delivering its Covishield Covid-19 vaccine at Rs 200 per dose and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin would be worth Rs 295 per dose excluding the taxes.
Moreover, Bharat Biotech is supplying 16.5 lakh doses of Covaxin free of charge to the government.
NITI Aayog's Dr Vinod Paul has said that both the vaccines are available at an affordable cost in the country as they were made in India. He further assured that their side-effects are negligible.