No option to choose preferred coronavirus vaccine, says Health Ministry

The Indian government has ordered 1.1 crore doses from the Serum Institute of India and 55 lakh doses from Bharat Biotech, said health secretary Rajesh Bhushan. The first consignment of coronavirus vaccines made its way to various cities on Tuesday. Since there is limited vaccine and logistical constraints currently, the government has said that individuals cannot choose the vaccine they want.

"In no country is there an option available regarding choice of vaccines. We would be staggering our supply orders," said Bhushan.

Serum Institute will provide the coronavirus vaccine at Rs 200 per dose, while Bharat Biotech would provide Covaxin at Rs 206 per dose to the government. Bharat Biotech will provide 16.5 lakh doses of Covaxin free of cost to the government.

Meanwhile, SII has dispatched its first consignment to various cities. Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo operated flights from Pune with 56.5 lakh doses to Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Bhushan also said that there are more vaccines in the works. Sputnik V, developed by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology as well as the coronavirus vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson are likely to cost Rs 734 per dose. Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine will be priced at Rs 2,800 for two doses, while Moderna's will cost around Rs 2,300-2,700 per dose.

One of the vaccines developed by China has been priced at Rs 5,600 per dose, while another that will be made available in India is priced at Rs 1,200 per dose.

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