No price difference for Centre, states: Adar Poonawalla on Covishield price row

Soon after Pune's Serum Institute of India announced that the open market price of its vaccine Covishield will be Rs 400 per dose, CEO Adar Poonawalla clarified that this price applies for both the Centre and state governments that buy from it under the new contracts.

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A rift had broken out as opposition parties had questioned why state governments are receiving vaccines for Rs 400 when the Centre procured the doses at Rs 150.

Poonawalla had explained after this issue had been raised that Rs 150 per dose was a price fixed for the Centre in the earlier contracts, without any knowledge if the vaccine will work. He said that it was a 'risk sharing' price that was agreed upon by both the parties for a limited quantity of vaccines.

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"Now that the vaccine is licenced and is showing good efficacy, we have now announced, based on the new policy of the government, these prices," he is quoted as saying by PTI.

DMK's M K Stalin had posted on Twitter, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure 'common vaccine prices for all'. "The differential pricing for vaccines between Union and State governments is discriminatory and defeats the objective of universal vaccination," he wrote.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra had also tweeted asking why the vaccine is priced Rs 150 for Centre and Rs 400 for states.

Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has questioned if people in the age group of 18 to 44 will be able to afford vaccines at Rs 400 per dose. "How many states would be willing to pay the price of the vaccine and subsidise people?" he said.