New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy over the prices of coronavirus vaccine, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has clarified that the vaccines being procured by the Central Government will continue to be given free of cost to the State Governments. The Ministry said that the Central Government pays Rs.150 per dose for both the coronavirus vaccines, but the State Governments will not be charged any fee for corona vaccine and the vaccine will continue to be made available to them free of cost.
Earlier, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala had announced that the Central and State Governments will have to pay Rs 400 from now on for the new vaccine order. He had said that the effectiveness of the vaccine has now been proved and it is now effective on coronavirus. So now new orders will be available at a new price instead of the old price. Let me tell you that the old price of the vaccine was Rs.150.
Clarifying Poonawalla's statement, the Health Ministry on Saturday said that the Centre will buy the vaccine for Rs 150 and it will be given free of cost to the states. Expanding the ongoing coronavirus vaccination drive in the country, the Centre has announced that vaccine manufacturers can sell their vaccines in the open market and states and private hospitals can buy vaccines directly from vaccine manufacturers. So far, the vaccine was being procured only by the Central Government from the vaccine manufacturers and then transporting to the State Governments. But now states can buy the vaccine directly from vaccine manufacturers.
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