‘Feel betrayed’ by decision to cap vaccine price at ₹250: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Pharma companies “feel betrayed” by the government’s decision to cap the price of COVID-19 vaccine at ₹250 at private hospitals, Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said on Sunday.

Reacting to a report that the government had fixed ₹250 per shot, she tweeted, “We r [sic] crushing instead of incentivising vaccine industry.”

“Covid Vaccine Jab Capped At Rs 250 At Private Hospitals: Government – understand vaccine cos [sic] feel betrayed as price is too low to sustain,” she said.

“If WHO has agreed to USD 3 per dose, why beat them down to USD 2?”

Also read: Private facilities likely to charge ₹250 for vaccine

The government’s capping of the vaccine price at private hospitals comes at a time when India is preparing to vaccinate people aged above 60 years and those over 45 with co-morbidities from March 1.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be given free of cost at government hospitals, while people will need to pay for it at private facilities.

The health ministry said on Friday that the cumulative number of doses administered to healthcare and frontline workers has crossed 1.37 crore.

A total of 1,37,56,940 doses have been given through 2,89,320 sessions – 66,37,049 to healthcare workers who got their first dose, 22,04,083 to HCWs who received their second dose, and 49,15,808 to frontline workers who were administered their first dose.

“Total 2,84,297 vaccine doses were given till 6pm on Friday, the 42nd day of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, out of which 1,13,208 beneficiaries were vaccinated for first dose and 1,71,089 HCWs received second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report,” the ministry said in a statement.