After a month-long wait, India is finally making the 91.6 % efficient Russian Sputnik V available. Dr. Reddy made the announcement of launching it to the Indian market at a set price. However, it’s not a satisfactory announcement for the public as the Sputnik V price doesn’t sound affordable.
Sputnik V In Market Soon!!!
The Head of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Deepak Sapra got the first dose of Sputnik V on 14th May.
First doses of #SputnikV administered in India. On the picture Deepak Sapra, Global Head of Custom Pharma Services at @drreddys Laboratories is getting a shot of Sputnik V in Hyderabad. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/iBbTeB2DmT
— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) May 14, 2021
As of now, only 150,000 shots will be made available from the next week under the pilot project of Dr. Reddy. The vaccine will cost Rs 948 excluding the GST charges and will be first administered in Hyderabad. Around 5 percent GST will be charged per dose on the vaccine that will surge the cost to Rs. 995.40.
However, the price of Sputnik V is USD 10 and less in other countries. At first, when India didn’t receive the consignment, the CEO of RDIF said the price will be even less than $10 for India but import taxes and GST charges made it costlier than other vaccines.
The good news is that Dr. Reddy’s laboratories will manufacture more doses of Sputnik V to ensure seamless supply. The in-home-produced vaccines will be cheaper then. According to a report in Mint, India will produce around 15.6 crores of Sputnik V from July in partnership with six vaccine manufacturers.
India To Produce 2 Billion Doses Of Covid Vaccines Including Sputnik V
via:thehindu
By the end of this year, India will get approx 2 billion doses of covid vaccines including Covaxin and Covishield.
All the three have different efficacy rate and seems to boost India’s vaccination plan. However, the price and availability of different vaccines can slow down the process of inoculating everyone.
The vaccination rate of India is 2.8 percent whereas the US, and the U.K are the fastest to vaccinate. Unfortunately, India will take few more months or maybe a year to vaccinate everyone. This is because till now only people above 45 were eligible and when Govt. made 18+ eligible, a sharp decline in vaccine availability was seen.
Many states urged for more vaccine doses that lead to the import of foreign covid vaccines. Even though the country is receiving help from everywhere, giving us hope that the crisis will end soon, worse is yet to come.
The second wave of covid and concern of kids getting infected will increase India’s trouble. As of now, we can rely on the vaccines and ensure everyone gets their first dose irrespective of the price.