SII clarifies COVID vaccine pricing, says Covishield most affordable vaccine available in market

Amid the ongoing public skepticism about the pricing of Covishield vaccine, the Serum Institute of India (SII) on Saturday said only a limited portion of its vaccines will be sold to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose.

In a statement, the company said, in light of the current dire situation, it has to ensure sustainability and must be able to invest in scaling up and expanding the production capacity.

"Only a limited portion of Serum Institute of India's volume will be sold to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose. The price of the vaccine is still lower than a lot of other medical treatment and essentials required to treat COVID19 and other life-threatening diseases," SII said in a statement.

We at @SerumInstIndia have for the past five decades been at the forefront of supplying vaccines and saving lives globally. We care about and respect every human life and strongly believe in transparency, and thus we hope our statement below can clear any confusions. pic.twitter.com/YQ3x38BuFL

— SerumInstituteIndia (@SerumInstIndia) April 24, 2021

Serum Institute of India (SII), which manufactures AstraZeneca's vaccine Covishield at its Pune facility, earlier this week announced a price of Rs 600 per dose and at Rs 400 for state governments and any new contract by the central government.

This compared to Rs 150 per dose it charges the central government for the existing supplies.

"Government procurement for countrywide immunisation programs in all countries including India has been at a far lower price as the volumes are very large," SII said in a statement.

"For instance, based on the market conditions, prices of many vaccines in the private market including our pneumococcal vaccine are sold at a higher free-economy price, whereas for the government it is almost one-third of the free market price," SII said.

"There was an inaccurate comparison done between the global prices of the vaccine with India," SII said. "Covisheld is the most affordable Covid-19 vaccine available in the market today," it added.

Serum, which produces the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, said that initial prices were kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by some countries for vaccine manufacturing.

"The initial prices were kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by those countries for at-risk vaccine manufacturing. The initial supply price of Covishield for all government immunisation programme, including India, has been the lowest," the statement reads.

Furthermore, in the interest of public health, it is important for the market to open-up for other vaccines from across the world. This will accelerate and advance the immunisation program of our country, SII added.