Marginal Difference In Covishield, Covaxin Purchase Price for Centre: Government

Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar also said that the government is not facing any difficulty in procuring and arranging vaccines for states and Union territories (UTs).

The Centre is purchasing Covishield and Covaxin doses at the rate of Rs 205 and Rs 215 per dose, respectively, and there is only a marginal difference in the purchase price of the two vaccines for the government, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar also said that the government is not facing any difficulty in procuring and arranging vaccines for states and Union territories (UTs). In fact, the Government of India has been supplying vaccines free of cost to the states/UTs for administration to prioritised beneficiaries as recommended by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC). "Advance visibility of these allocations, that is, the total doses of vaccine that would be available to a state and UT, is provided to them 15 days in advance, so as to enable them to plan for acceleration of vaccination coverage while being cognizant of the available vaccines," the minister said.