Pune, India: Serum Institute of India, the world’s highest vaccine producer by volume, is close to signing a supply deal with the country’s central government and likely to fix prices at 250 rupees ($3.39) per dose of the vaccine, on Tuesday, citing people familiar among the matter.
The government holds pinning its hopes for mass supply on Serum Institute, which lodged the first formal application for emergency-use permission of AstraZeneca’s shot on Monday.
Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla had earlier said the vaccine would be priced at 1,000 rupees ($13.55) per dose in India’s private market, but governments signing large supply deals would likely buy it at lower prices.
Poonawalla had said Serum would first focus on supplying the vaccine to Indians before distributing it to other countries.
With 9.70 million COVID-19 cases recorded so far, India is second only to the United States and is accelerating its review of vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca to authorize for emergency use, a senior executive stated.
While the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research and Ministry of Health did not respond to Reuters request for comments, Serum Institute declined to offer one.
Many other companies are working on the vaccine, with this world can hope that it will get a suitable vaccine very soon and this worst pandemic will end.
Almost all top countries, including Russia and India, has permitted to use COVID 19 vaccine.