SERUM INSTITUTE’S COVISHIELD PRECAUTION DOSE PRICED AT RS 600 PER SHOT

(The Quiver): Covshield booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be priced at Rs 600 plus taxes, a source from Serum Institute of India (SII) told India Today on Friday.

Later, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla welcomed the government’s move to allow precaution dose of the vaccine to all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres, saying it will further provide long-term protection against the virus, and aid ease of travel.

“End-users will pay Rs 600 for the booster dose and the hospitals will get at discounted price,” Poonawalla said in a statement.

The development comes moments after the Union Health Ministry announced that the COVID-19 precaution dose will be available for all adults from April 10 at private vaccination centres. 

The ongoing free vaccination programme through government vaccination centres for first and second dose as well as precaution dose to healthcare workers, frontline workers and 60+ population would continue and would be accelerated, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement.

The ministry also noted that 96 per cent of all 15+ population in the country have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 83 per cent of 15+ population have received both doses. 

Meanwhile, official sources had told news agency PTI on Sunday that the COVID-19 Working Group of the NTAGI had recommended the inclusion of the Serum Institute’s Covovax in the national vaccination programme for those aged 12 years and above.

India’s drug regulator had approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults on December 28 and in the 12-17 age group, subject to certain conditions, on March 9.

India began inoculating children aged 12-14 from March 16. Biological E’s Corbevax is being used to inoculate them.