Higher vaccine prices will bleed state finances dry: Jairam Ramesh

Congress on Wednesday made a strong pitch for uniform pricing of vaccines even as Serum Institute of India announced that it would offer Covishield for Rs 400 per dose to state governments.

“We demand One Nation, One Price for Centre & state governments,” senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said soon after SII unveiled the prices of vaccines for state governments and private hospitals.

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Ramesh said the Centre will continue to pay Rs 150 per dose for Covishield, while state governments will now be charged Rs 400 per dose.

“This is not cooperative federalism. This will bleed dry the already reeling state finances. Atrocious,” the former union minister said.

The SII on Wednesday said it would offer vaccines at Rs 400 per dose to state governments and Rs 600 per dose to private hospitals.

It asked corporate and private individuals to access the vaccines through the state-facilitated machinery initially and said the doses would be available in retail and free trade in the next four months.