Bollywood actors Farhan Akhtar and Sonu Sood questioned why Serum Institute was not providing its Covishield vaccine at the same price to the centre and the states.
SII said the Covishield vaccine will be available to state governments for Rs 400 per dose and to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose.
The Serum Institute of India has said that it will provide Covishield to private hospitals for Rs 600 per dose. It will charge the state governments Rs 400 for per dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Tuesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for what he called a ‘decisive policy changes’ and ‘swift financial aid’ to help Covid-19 vaccine production and distribution in India.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had in January given the emergency use authorisation for two COVID-19 vaccines -- Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and Covishield of Oxford-AstraZeneca manufactured by Serum Institute of India in Pune.
The Biden administration has conveyed to India that they understand India's pharmaceutical requirements and has promised to review embargo on Covid-19 vaccine raw material.
COVID-19 vaccine: SII will supply 200 million doses and Bharat Biotech is to supply another 90 million doses to the government by July at a pre-agreed rate of Rs 150 per dose.
"Treasury has confirmed that the Serum Institute of India has fully refunded us for the remaining 500,000 doses that had not been delivered to South Africa and the money is already in our bank account," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said at a televised media briefing on Thursday.
The WHO has rejected Serum Institute of India's proposal seeking extension of the shelf life of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, from six to nine months, citing insufficient data, sources said.
As India records 1.26 lakh Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours, doctors have urge people to take vaccine in large number. The doctors also requested people to follow Covid norms set by the government as the fear from the virus is still not over yet.
Poonawalla has mentioned that the existing production capacity to manufacture Covishield in India is under pressure due to increased demand in India.
Sri Lanka has temporarily halted its COVID-19 vaccination programme as there was a delay in securing more AstraZeneca vaccines from the Serum Institute of India, a top health minister has said.
Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest Covid-19 vaccine maker, is hopeful of launching its second vaccine for coronavirus — Covovax — by September this year, CEO Adar Poonawalla announced on Saturday.
The high court also asked the Centre to explain in affidavit the rationale behind keeping strict control over class of persons who can be vaccinated against COVID-19 currently as under the present system those above the age of 60 years or between 45 to 60 years with comorbidities can receive vaccination.
A Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country's immunisation campaign, cyber intelligence firm Cyfirma told Reuters.
Chinese and Russian-linked hacking campaigns in recent weeks targeted Indian vaccine makers Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech, cyber intelligence and threat discovery platform Cyfirma said on Monday.
Located in the city of Pune in Maharashtra, the SII is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume.
India has already provided over 229 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines to various countries out of which 64 lakh doses have been supplied as grant assistance and 165 lakh on commercial basis.
Cyrus Poonawalla was born in a family that had old ties to India racing circuit, through the family Poonawalla Stud Farms. At a young age, Poonawalla realized that since the horse racing had no future in a socialist nation like India, he needed to explore other venues. He realized that creating a product for the masses than for the elite would be a smarter move. The Serum Institute of India was founded by the Poonawalla in 1966, and they launched their first therapeutic tetanus serum within two years and started producing the anti-tetanus vaccines soon after.
The firm, founded in 1966 in the western city of Pune, is producing millions of doses of the Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, for India and much of the developing world.
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