Covid-19 vaccine tracker, August 8: Some shots could cost less than Rs 240 per dose
Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine tracker August 8 update: Serum said this low price would be enabled through a new US$ 150 million funding it is receiving from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to 'accelerate' the production of Coronavirus vaccines.
By: Explained Desk | Pune |
Updated: August 9, 2020 10:30:25 am
Reserchers from Serum Institute work on a bioreactor to manufacture a possible COVID-19 vaccine, still in clinical trials, in Pune, India, July 10, 2020. (The New York Times: Atul Loke)
Covid-19 vaccine tracker: The timeline for a novel Coronavirus vaccine is all but set. Though there is still a bit of uncertainty, most experts, and others who should know, agree that a vaccine would become a reality by early next year, if not earlier. The next point of interest in the vaccine seems to be the price at which it would be made available to the public. That question is also being slowly answered.
On Friday, Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, said at least 100 million doses of potentially billions that it plans to produce, would be made available for as low as US$ 3 (less than Rs 240) per dose. This is at par with the lowest price indications that have been suggested till now for the different vaccine candidat under development.
Serum said this low price would be enabled through a new US$ 150 million funding it is receiving from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to ‘accelerate’ the production of Coronavirus vaccines. Serum has agreements with at least two vaccine developers, Oxford University-AstraZeneca and Novavax, to produce and supply their vaccines once they are finalised and approved.
Moderna, one of the front-runners to develop a Coronavirus vaccine, is reported to have said that it could price its vaccine between US$50 and US$60 (between Rs 3,700 and Rs 4,500) per dose. The vaccine being developed by Pfizer is expected to be priced around US$ per dose (about Rs 3,000). Serum Institute itself has earlier indicated that the Oxford University vaccine that it would manufacture could be priced at less than Rs 1,000.
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