There are currently two vaccines available in the country to combat the coronavirus. One of them is Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and the other is Covishield. The vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca, is manufactured by the Serum Institute in India. More vaccines will be available soon. These include Sputnik-V, Sputnik Light, as well as the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine and nasal vaccine.
Now, another vaccine is coming from Biological-E. The company recently announced that it will make these vaccines available at a much lower cost than currently available vaccines. It announced to make available the two doses combinedly for less than Rs. 650. However, Government sources said that a single dose of this vaccine will be available at Rs.150. The Union Ministry of Health has already placed an order with the Hyderabad-based company for 30 crore doses, of which Rs. 1500 crore was paid.
At present, Covishield offers a single dose for Rs. 300 for government, for private companies Rs. 600. Covaxin single dose costs at Rs. 400 for government, for private companies Rs.1200. The price of the Sputnik vaccine is Rs.995. If the biological-e vaccine becomes available then it will be the second indigenous vaccine available after covaxin. The Covid vaccine was developed by the Biological-e Institute in association with the Baylor College of Medicine in the United States. The vaccine has had better results in clinical trials so far. Now the third phase tests are underway.
