Coronavirus vaccine to be $6 billion market in India

The market for coronavirus vaccine in India could potentially be $6 billion in terms of sales for the coming three years. The public exchequer is expected to pay only about $2 billion to immunise just half the number of people needed to reach herd immunity levels, a global brokerage said.

The report further adds that only 30 per cent of the country's approximately 1.3 billion population, would be immunised by the government with two doses. The remaining population will purchase the doses from the private market, it added. "If the government chose to vaccinate the entire population, they would need to set aside an additional $6 billion. This would imply an almost 100% increase to the current Central Government Healthcare budget," Mint reported citing a research by international brokerage Sanford C Bernstein.

According to the brokerage's estimation, the vaccine would be priced at $3 per dose for government procurement. Similarly, the rate would stand at $6 for the private market.

Meanwhile, five more volunteers were inoculated with the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Pune on Thursday as part of the phase II clinical trial launched in search for an antidote against the viral infection.

Earlier, two volunteers, aged 32 and 48, were given a shot of the 'Covishield' vaccine, being manufactured by the city-based Serum Institute of India (SII), on Wednesday when the phase II clinical trial of the medicine began at Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital.

The race for a COVID-19 vaccine is hotting up even as countries continue to see a daily rise in the number of positive cases. India's virus tally has sprinted past the 33 lakh-mark.

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Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Phase 2 trials of Oxford candidate start in India; two get vaccinated