The center reviews the norms for the procurement of shocks, places orders for 660 million doses | Latest India News

The government will procure Covishield at a rate of 215 per dose and Covaxin at a rate of 225 per dose, officials said were aware of the lengthy discussions between companies and authorities, adding that new orders for 660 million doses for supply between August and December have also been placed.

The new rates are higher than 150 per dose the government was paying so far, a price that vaccine manufacturers said was unstable for them in the long run and that they would be able to expand their production capacity.

Price revision negotiations had been underway for some time and finally the revised rates have been set at which future procurements should take place, said an official aware of the issue, requesting not to be named by name.

The Pune-based India Serum Institute (SII) locally produces the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine under the Covishield brand name, while the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech manufactures Covaxin, which it developed in collaboration with the Indian Medical Research Council. (ICMR).

The person quoted above added that a new order of 660 million doses has been placed and these will be delivered by August and December at a total cost of 14,505 korre. The total orders included are with both companies, although no segregation of doses was given by the manufacturer.

As of June 21, the central government is procuring 75% of monthly output and distributing them for free. Between May 1 and June 20, doses were also procured by state governments, which were charged a higher dose rate ( 300 by SII and 400 by Bharat Biotech).

Private hospitals pay 600 for each dose of Covishield and 1,200 for each dose of Covaxin.

On June 8, the Center instructed private vaccination centers not to pay more than 780 for Covishield, 1,410 for Covaxin and 1,145 for Sputnik V doses, including goods and services tax.

The center said private hospitals can pay up to 150 as a service fee and state governments would closely monitor the prices being charged.

The government urged state governments to take strong action against private vaccine centers wherever cases of congestion occur.

In briefing the media on Friday by the Union Ministry of Health about the Covid-19 updates, the government also announced that it was working on contract specifications with US Pharmaceutical Major Moderna and is expected to hear from them as part of the Covid-mRNA shipment process. 19 vaccines in India.

For the Modernas vaccine, contractual specifications are being developed as there is a certain process that needs to be followed properly. Discussions are not over yet. We are looking forward to hearing from them at any time. They should come back to us now, said Dr VK Paul, (health) member, Niti Aayog, during the press conference.

On June 30, India approved the import of the Covid-19 vaccine based on Modernas mRNA technology. On behalf of Moderna, the Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, Cipla Ltd, applied to the drug regulator in India. However, since then the import process has stalled.

India has been struggling to increase its daily vaccination rate as both shortages and reluctance continue. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said earlier Wednesday that the estimated supply of vaccines to states and UT for July was at 135m, which is enough to carry out 4.35m inoculations per day.

The number is lower than the maximum daily vaccination level of 6.4 million doses seen in the week after June 21st. Over the past seven days, that number has dropped to 3.8 million a day on average, and some states have said they had to close the centers after doses ran out.

Paul warned that the next 100-125 days would be critical to deciding whether the third wave would hit India or not, and if it happens then with what force, he said. He added that new cases were growing globally and that it is an abundant signal to say that a third wave was coming.

The WHO warning is a global warning to the world and we need to learn from other countries based on what they face. Our population is still vulnerable as we have not yet achieved herd immunity; the virus is still around and the risk of spreading the infection is our decline has been slow but it is in our hands to prevent the country from seeing the third wave. It is possible if we work collectively towards it and can reach the safe zone. The next 100-125 days are critical, Paul said.

He also shared a study conducted by the Indian Medical Research Council that analyzed the effectiveness of the vaccine in police personnel, a high-risk category

The study showed that two doses of the vaccine were successful in preventing 95% of deaths due to Covid-19 in the second wave.

Experts also say now is not the time to lower your guards. In fact, people should strictly adhere to Covid-appropriate behavior, such as wearing a mask, keeping physical distance, and hand hygiene. It can not be stressed enough as it is the only way to stop the disease transmission chain along with vaccination, said Dr GC Khilnani, former head, Department of Pulmonology, Institute of Medical Sciences All India, Delhi.