The Centre on Tuesday announced the revised vaccine prices for private hospitals. As per the new prices, Covishield will be available to the private hospitals for Rs 780 per dose, Covaxin will be available for Rs. 1,410 per dose and Sputnik V will be available for Rs. 1,145 per dose. This price includes taxes and the maximum service charges a private hospital can impose.
Details
On Tuesday, the MoHFW (Ministry of Health and Family Affairs) announced the price cap of COVID-19 vaccines for private hospitals.
Also Read: At Rs 250 per dose, this Bio E COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be cheapest Indian vaccine
How are the vaccines priced for private hospitals?
According to the Centre, the price per dose as per the manufacturer is Rs. 600 for Covishield, Rs. 1,200 for Covaxin and Rs. 948 for Sputnik V for one dose. When one adds 5% GST on the dose, Rs. 30 is added to the Serum Institute’s Covishield, Rs. 60 for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Rs. 47 for Russia’s Sputnik V.
Further, the maximum service charges a hospital can take will be Rs. 150 per dose, as accordance to the new guidelines. So, the final price of all 3 vaccines will be:
1. Covishield Price: Rs. 600 + Rs. 30 + Rs. 150 = Rs. 780
2. Covaxin Price: Rs. 1200 + Rs. 60 + Rs 150 = Rs. 1410
3. Sputnik V Price: Rs. 948 + Rs. 47 + Rs. 150 = Rs. 1,145
Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccine Guidelines: 12–16-week gap for Covishield; Recovered patients should wait 6 months
Strict action against private vaccination centers in case of overcharging
The Health Ministry in its letter to all the Indian states and union territories regarding the new vaccine policy and prices told that strict action will be taken against privately held vaccination drives if overcharging is reported.
Although the Prime Minister on Monday announced that the Centre will take 75% of the vaccination efforts, the Ministry said that the states and union territories will need to constantly monitor private vaccination centers and see if they are charging appropriate amount from the beneficiaries or not.
Also Read: 5 Ways Supreme Court Came Down Hard on Centre & Why it Called Vaccination Policy ‘Irrational’
CoWin will display validations for complete transparency
The govt run CoWin platform, from where beneficiaries can book slots to vaccination centers and generate their vaccine certificate, will display validations to make sure that private vaccination centers do not charge the maximum vaccine price as per the government’s new revised vaccine policy.
Centre purchases 44 crore vaccine doses, 30% advance given to vaccine makers
Meanwhile, in accordance to the new vaccine policy which stated that the Centre will inform the states the number of vaccines ordered, new developments were revealed. The Centre placed an order of 25 crore Covishield and 19 crore Covaxin doses.
The sum total of 44 crore vaccine doses will be delivered between the period of August – December 2021 by the manufacturers. Further, the Centre also revealed that a 30% advance has already been released to both Serum Institute of India & Bharat Biotech for the vaccine procurement.
Moreover, the Health Ministry has also placed an order to procure 30 crore doses of Bio E’s COVID-19 vaccine. NITI Aayog’s Dr. V.K. Paul in a press briefing announced, “Government has also placed an order to purchase 30 crore doses of Biological E’s vaccine, which will be available by September.”
The New Vaccine Policy by Centre
The announcement of the new price cap on vaccine for private hospital comes a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation and briefed it about the new vaccine policy. According to the new vaccine policy every person above the age of 18 years will be vaccinated free of cost at any government run center. As per the new directive, state governments will be receiving the vaccines for free.
In his address to the nation, PM Modi also said while states will get 75% of the vaccines for free, the 25% remaining vaccines will be available for private hospitals to be procured. However, he added that the private hospitals will only be able to add a maximum amount of Rs. 150 per dose over the fixed MRP of the vaccine.
14.4% Indians partially vaccinated, 3.5% fully jabbed
As of Tuesday, June 8, a total of 23,90,58,360 vaccine doses have already been administered. With a gigantic population of 1.3 billion people, the vaccine drive has been able to inoculate 14.4% of the total population partially, and a 3.5% of the total population has been inoculated completely.
