Govt orders 25 crore COVISHIELD & 19 crore COVAXIN doses; 30 cr Corbevax jabs by Sept 2021

Just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the centralized COVID-19 vaccination policy, the Centre has placed an order to purchase 25 crore doses of COVISHIELD and 19 crore doses of COVAXIN. As part of the Centre's plan to ramp up the procurement and production of COVID-19 vaccine doses, the government has also placed an order to purchase 30 crore doses of Biological E's vaccine, NITI Aayog Member Dr VK Paul said on Tuesday. 

Biological E's COVID vaccine - Corbevax - is a recombinant protein sub-unit type that is unlike any other anti-COVID jab available in the Indian market. Corbevax is currently in stage 3 of clinical trials and is expected to be rolled out by September this year. Significantly, the government has also released an advance payment to aid the manufacturers in ensuring a timely supply of the vaccines. 

In a positive sign, Dr VK Paul while addressing the media briefing on Tuesday affirmed that the financial aid provided to Biological E will meet part of the price of the vaccine decided by the pharma company. "We should wait for the company (Biological E) to announce the price of their vaccine (Corbevax). It will depend on our negotiation with the company, under the new policy. The financial aid that has been given will meet part of the price," Dr Paul said. 

PM Modi announces centralized vaccination policy

In an address to the Nation on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 100% Centralised Vaccination drive against the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be implemented within two weeks. Making the key announcement, PM Modi announced the scrapping of decentralized policy rolled out on May 1, adding that the Centre will account for procurement of 75% of COVID-19 vaccines from the manufacturers and subsequently provide these free to the States for inoculation. The remaining 25% would be available for private players, with a Rs 150 cap on the service charge they may apply.

After announcing the Centre's decision to take over the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines from states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also proposed a potentially game-changing 'Each One, Pay One' policy, allowing those who can afford it to pay for COVID-19 vaccines for the needy. While the details of the policy are still to be announced, it has been learnt that the 'Each One, Pay One' policy is an effort to invite people to contribute towards the collective battle against COVID-19 even as the Centre provides free vaccines to all those above 18 years of age. 

Revised guidelines for COVID vaccination program 

According to the plan, the Centre will consider a number of factors such as a state's population ratio, case severity, and the present number of vaccines available with the state before allocating a set number of Coronavirus vaccines to them. Another important criterion that would factor in would be the state's vaccine wastage ratio. A higher vaccine wastage ratio would negatively affect the vaccine allocation to the states.

As per the guidelines, the government will provide states with advanced information of vaccine doses to be supplied to them. In return, the states have been asked to allocate the doses well in advance to districts and vaccination centres and put the information in the public domain so as to disseminate it among the local population.