Covid booster dose: Covishield and Covaxin prices have been slashed to Rs 225 per shot

The Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech slashed the prices of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines for private hospitals to Rs 225 per dose on Saturday, a day before the Centre rolls out precautionary doses of Covid-19 vaccines to all adults.

In private hospitals, each dose of Covishield costs Rs 600, while Covaxin costs Rs 1,200.

Significantly, the Union Health Ministry issued guidelines to all states on Saturday allowing private vaccination centres to charge a maximum of Rs 150 per dose as a service fee in addition to the cost of the vaccines. “Private vaccination centres must declare the price per dose they charge on Co-WIN in accordance with the prices declared by the manufacturers,” the ministry instructed the states.

The announcement by the Serum Institute of India in Pune and Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad came just hours before the two vaccine manufacturers met with the central government for a consultation meeting. “We are pleased to announce that the SII has decided to revise the price of COVISHIELD vaccine for private hospitals from Rs.600 to Rs 225 per dose after discussions with the Central government,” SII chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla tweeted.

Poonawalla also applauded the government’s decision to allow all adults to receive booster vaccinations.

“We have decided to revise the price of Covaxin from Rs 1200 to Rs 225 per dose for private hospitals,” Bharat Biotech’s joint managing director Suchitra Ella said on behalf of the company.

India will continue to follow a uniform vaccination schedule for booster shots. “Preventive dose administration will be homologous,” according to the health ministry, meaning that the same vaccine type will be used for the precaution dose as it was for the first and second doses.

This means that if a beneficiary has already received two doses of Covishield, the third dose will be Covishield. Those who received two Covaxin doses will also need to take Covaxin as a precautionary dose. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced on Friday that the “preventive” third dose of Covid-19 vaccines will be available on payment at private vaccination centres starting April 10 for all those aged 18 and up who have completed nine months after their second dose.

“Those who are over the age of 18 and have waited nine months after the second dose have been administered are eligible for the precaution dose.” This service would be available in all private vaccination clinics, according to the ministry.

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