Hyderabad: Serum Institute of India (SII) on Wednesday has reduced the prices of the Covishield vaccine for the state from Rs 400 to Rs 300 per dose.
"As a philanthropic gesture on behalf of@SerumInstIndia, I hereby reduce the price to the states from Rs.400 to Rs.300 per dose, effective immediately; this will save thousands of crores of state funds going forward. This will enable more vaccinations and save countless lives (sic)", tweeted CEO Adar Poonawala.
This follows widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it had sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.
Earlier, it had fixed the prices of vaccine at Rs 400 per dose for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.
Earlier, several Chief Ministers had urged the government to bring uniformity in the cost of the vaccine for the Centre as well as states.
Everyone above 18 years of age will be eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 from May 1. The central government also liberalised the vaccination drive to allow states, private hospitals and industrial establishments to procure the doses directly from manufacturers.
Read: Invoke compulsory licensing to lower vaccine price: Chidambaram
Also recently, while replying to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Ministry of Health on April 24 said in a tweet, "#Unite2FightCorona It is clarified that Govt of India's procurement price for both #COVID19 vaccines remains Rs 150 per dose. GOI procured doses will continue to be provided TOTALLY FREE to States. @PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @DDNewslive @PIB_India @mygovindia."
On April 24, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh by sharing a newspaper article which reads 'Serum's Rs 600/dose for Covishield in pvt hospital is its highest rate the world over and said in a tweet -- "COVISHIELD @ Rs 400 for new government procurement is higher than what govts of US, UK, EU, Saudi, Bangladesh & SA pay. Made in India & highest price for India? By SII's own admission profits are made even at Rs150. Prices must be renegotiated @PMOIndia @nsitharaman @drharshvardhan."
The statement from the government came after several political leaders slammed the central government for providing Covishield vaccine at Rs 400 per dose for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.
Meanwhile, India reported over 3.60 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases and 3,293 related deaths in the last 24 hours.
Read: Maharashtra: Vaccination for 18 to 41 years will not start from May 1
