From May 1 Onwards, Pay More For Second Jab Of Covishield

From May 1, 2021 onwards a jab of Serum Institute of Indias (SII) Covishield (AstraZeneca) vaccine will cost Rs 600 in a private hospital.

From May 1, 2021 onwards a jab of Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covishield (AstraZeneca) vaccine will cost Rs 600 in a private hospital. What is interesting though is that all those who had received (or will receive) their first jab of Covishield for Rs 250 in a private hospital during this month (April, 2021), will end up paying Rs 600 for their second dose when it becomes due after the mandatory six to eight weeks of interval. Days after the Centre had announced its ‘Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy' which will become effective from May 1, and under which vaccine manufacturers would be free to supply 50 per cent of their monthly doses to state governments and in the open market; SII on Wednesday said that it will sell its Covishield vaccine at Rs 400 per dose to state governments and to private hospitals at Rs 600. The new rates would be applicable from May 1, 2021 when the Centre's liberalised vaccination strategy comes into force. Currently Covishield vaccine costs Rs 250 in private hospitals, which is a highly subsidised rate as the Centre has till now been directly procuring it from SII.