BRIEF—SII sets prices for AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

The Serum Institute of India (SII) said yesterday it welcomes the recent announcement made by India’s Ministry of Health and Finance Ministry to accelerate India’s vaccination drive.

The promising directives will help to scaleup vaccine production, and allow state governments, private hospitals, and vaccination centers to procure vaccines directly.

For the next two months, SII will address the limited capacity by scaling up the vaccine production.

Going ahead, 50% of the firm’s capacities will be served to the government of India's vaccination program, and the remaining 50% of the capacity will be for the State governments and private hospitals.

The SII said it would sell the AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) vaccine to the country’s state governments at 400 rupees ($5.30) per dose and to private hospitals at 600 rupees ($7.95).

“Furthermore, owing to the complexity, and urgency of the situation it is challenging to supply it independently to each corporate entity,” noted a SII statement, adding: “We would urge all corporate and private individuals to access the vaccines through the state facilitated machinery and private health systems.”