Govt Close To Signing Contract With Serum Institute Of India For Supply Of Covishield Vaccine At Rs 250 A Dose

World's biggest vaccine maker, Pune based Serum Institute of India (SII) is set to sign the deal with the Government of India to supply vaccines ar a fixed price of Rs 250 per dosage, reports Business Standard.

SII has already applied for the emergency use authorisation (EUA) of the Covishield vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and is likely to now conclude a supply contract with the Government which is presently in final stages.

Also, it is likely that by March-April 2021, SII's Covishield vaccine will also be available in the private markets. Company's chief executive Adar Poonawalla had earlier indicated that the price of the vaccine in the private markets could be around Rs 500-600 per dosage.

Meanwhile, SII is likely to supply the Government with a bulk of the 400-600 million dosages which will be needed by the government in the initial phases up to July. However, it should be noted that the size of the supply contract between SII and the Government is not known yet. It is expected that by January-February, SII could have at least 100 million doses for the Government.