This is an archive article published on April 9, 2022
Covid-19: 3rd doses from today, prices cut to Rs 225 plus service fee
Private vaccination centres can charge up to Rs 150 per dose as service charge over and above the cost of the vaccine. Recipients will be able to see the total cost on the Co-WIN portal in advance, the government said.
Everyone of age 18 years or older will be eligible for the third dose after nine months (or 39 weeks) have passed since they got their second dose of the vaccine, the government said on Friday. (Express file photo)
A day before the precautionary third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is rolled out, both major manufacturers announced large cuts in the price of their vaccines.
Both Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be available for Rs 225 per dose, down from Rs 600 and Rs 1,200 respectively. Private vaccination centres can charge up to Rs 150 per dose as service charge over and above the cost of the vaccine. Recipients will be able to see the total cost on the Co-WIN portal in advance, the government said.
“Private centres must declare the price per dose chargeable by them on Co-WIN, in accordance with the prices declared by the manufacturers,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in guidelines to states on Saturday.
Everyone of age 18 years or older will be eligible for the third dose after nine months (or 39 weeks) have passed since they got their second dose of the vaccine, the government said on Friday.
This means all adults who got their second shot on July 9, 2021 or earlier can get the precautionary dose from Sunday onward. In his communication to the states on Saturday, Bhushan said the Co-WIN system would send SMS alerts to all citizens who become eligible for their third shots based on the details of earlier vaccinations available in digital records.
The precautionary doses will be given only at private establishments against payment. The priority groups of healthcare workers, frontline workers, and individuals above the age of 60 can get their third dose for free at government vaccination centres.
We are pleased to announce that after discussion with the Central Government, SII has decided to revise the price of COVISHIELD vaccine for private hospitals from Rs.600 to Rs 225 per dose. We once again commend this decision from the Centre to open precautionary dose to all 18+.
The Centre informed the states that recipients can either make appointments online with the private vaccination centres, or schedule their shots on the spot. Those who already registered on Co-WIN need not register again to receive the third dose.
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“Eligible citizens can avail of walk-in vaccination, wherein private vaccination centres can add beneficiaries onsite to an ongoing vaccination session for precaution dose. For this the PCVC (private Covid vaccination centre) team can locate the existing vaccination record of the citizen by searching on the mobile number, beneficiary reference ID, or the details of Identity Document used at the time of earlier vaccinations,” the Health Ministry has said.
Announcing #CovaxinPricing .
We welcome the decision to make available precautionary dose for all adults. In consultation with the Central Government, we have decided to revise the price of #COVAXIN from Rs 1200 to Rs 225 per dose, for #privatehospitals.🇮🇳💉💉💉😷
The Ministry also told the states that vaccination would be “homologous”, that is, recipients will get the same vaccine — Covishield or Covaxin — as the one they got on the first two occasions.
“Announcing #CovaxinPricing. We welcome the decision to make available precautionary dose for all adults. In consultation with the Central Government, we have decided to revise the price of #COVAXIN from Rs 1200 to Rs 225 per dose, for #privatehospitals,” Suchitra Ella, Joint MD, Bharat Biotech, said in a tweet.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, tweeted: “We are pleased to announce that… SII has decided to revise the price of COVISHIELD vaccine for private hospitals from Rs 600 to Rs 225 per dose. We once again commend this decision from the Centre to open precautionary dose to all 18+.”
Bhushan told private centres to declare vaccine stock positions on Co-WIN.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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