Centre's COVID vaccine procurement: 34.6 cr doses ordered, 16.2 cr received; ₹3650 cr paid

As India continues to reel under the unprecedented second wave of COVID-19, the Centre on Thursday shared detailed data about the COVID-19 vaccine procurement. Union MoS for Finance & Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur shared the data, which included the number of doses ordered, supplied, amount billed and amount paid by the Government to Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech.

Centre shares COVID vaccine procurement details 

As per the details shared by the government, the Centre has placed an order of 26.60 crore doses of Covishield vaccine with SII. out of these 26.60 crore doses, 14.344 crore doses have been supplied and the amount for the same is Rs 2353.09 crore. However, the total amount paid by the Centre is Rs 3639.67 crore, which also includes the payment for additional 11 crore doses. These additional doses will be delivered in May, June, July 2021. 

Meanwhile, the Centre has placed an order of 8.00 crore doses of Covaxin vaccine with Bharat Biotech. Out of these 8.00 crore vaccine doses, 1.8813 crore doses have been supplied and the amount for the same is Rs 342.28 crore. However, the total amount paid by the government is Rs 1104.78 crore as it also includes the cost for additional 5 crore doses, which will be delivered in May, June, July 2021. 

COVID-19 vaccine prices in India

As per the details released by Serum Institute of India (SII), the Centre can procure Covishield vaccine at Rs 150/dose. The price of Covishield for the state government is Rs 300 and for the private hospitals, it is Rs 600. Meanwhile, for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, the government can procure the vaccine at Rs 150/dose. The price of Covaxin for the state government is Rs 400 and for the private hospitals, it is Rs 1,200

COVID-19 vaccination in India

Currently, with a massive surge of COVID-19 cases, India's condition is dire. The country's hope majorly lies in vaccination. Now that India has started the third phase of vaccination, the process of the inoculation drive is set to proceed at a faster clip. Approvals were given in January 2021 for the two vaccines - Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and Covishield of Oxford-AstraZeneca manufactured by Serum Institute of India in Pune. Earlier in April, India approved emergency usage of its third vaccine- Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, the first batch of which arrived in India on May 1. 

India started the vaccination process on January 16 with healthcare workers, later the phase was shifted to frontline workers. In the next phase, people above the age of 60 were vaccinated while people above the age of 45 followed the drive. After the second wave storm of the virus in India, the Government approved 'vaccination for all' by giving permission to vaccinate people above the age of 18. In April, India also created a record of inoculating 14.19 Crore People In 100 Days. 

COVID-19 situation in India

India so far has recorded over 2,10,77,410 positive cases, out of which 1,72,80,844 have successfully recovered and 2,30,168 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 4,12,262 new cases, 3,29,113 fresh recoveries and 3,980 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 35,66,398.

(Image: PTI)