Opposition Slams Centre's Decision To Allow Market Pricing For Covid-19 Vaccines, Calls For One Nation, One Price

Serum Institute of India’s decision to fix the rate of Covishield vaccine for private hospitals & state governments has attracted sharp criticism from the Opposition. They argued that there was no logic in charging state governments higher when the Centre was getting the same vaccine at Rs 150 per dose. Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine-maker, on April 21 announced that it will charge state governments Rs 400 per dose & private hospitals Rs 600 per dose for the vaccine. It added that in the next two months, 50 per cent of its capacities will be served to the Central government’s vaccination program, while the remaining 50% will be for State governments & private hospitals. Leading the attack on the government, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh termed the differential Covishield pricing “atrocious” and said it will “bleed dry the already reeling state finances”. He further demanded one nation, one price for Covid-19 vaccines. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to allege injustice on the part of the central government and compared the new vaccine policy to demonetisation. Following the criticism, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla later clarified that it is not a different price. “All government prices will be Rs 400 henceforth for new contracts,” he said. Watch the video to know more.