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Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine may cost as low as $10 per dose in India (approximately Rs 730). This may be the lowest price for an mRNA-based jab globally, and nearly half the rate in developed markets such as the UK, US, and EU.
US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have co-developed a two-shot COVID-19 vaccine named BNT162b2. ” It is a single-digit price per dose”, a source told Business Standard. “It’s a non-profit of value to the government’s vaccination program,” he said.
The Pfizer-BioEntech coronavirus vaccine costs $19.5 per dose in the US and around $21 in the UK. In Europe, the price of the jab was earlier around $18.9 per dose, but price talks are on for a higher rate of $23.2, the report said. Thus, the Indian price is probably the lowest.
Russia’s Sputnik V costs Rs 995 per dose (inclusive of taxes) in the private market, while Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covashield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in India costs Rs 600 and currently 1200 per dose in Rs.
A Pfizer spokesman said, “Pfizer has offered to make the required doses of our COVID-19 vaccine available at a not-for-profit price for India, as for all low and lower-middle-income countries, once we have the necessary regulatory clearance. Currently, as our discussions with the government of India are ongoing and confidential, we cannot provide further details”.
Meanwhile, talks on compensation are underway between the US pharma giant and the Centre. Manufacturers such as Pfizer and Moderna have been granted legal protection by the US government, except in cases of “intentional misconduct” by firms.
