The Center sets the prices for three Covid-19 vaccines.

Key sentence:

• The Centre ordered private vaccination centres to charge no more than the given price on vaccines.
• Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is priced at $1,200 per dose, according to the Hyderabad-based pharma company.

The Centre ordered private vaccination centres to charge no more than $780 for Covishield, $1,410 for Covaxin, and $1,145 for Sputnik V vaccines on Tuesday. According to the Centre, private hospitals can charge up to $150 in service fees, and state governments will supervise the amounts charged.

The Centre also stated that steps are being done to ensure that the Cowin portal performs the necessary validations to ensure that prices declared by many private Covid-19 immunisation centres do not exceed the government’s mandated prices.

The Centre also stated in its ruling that the pricing disclosed by private Covid-19 immunisation centres must be reset to the government’s maximum value. 

“Where the price declared by a CVC exceeds the maximum amount, the Co-WIN system will also reset the pricing announced by private CVCs to the maximum value indicated, for related vaccinations,” the ruling stated.

Also read: Tuesdays-covid-19-cases-raise-Maharashtras-total-to-5-58-million.

The central government has urged state governments to take tough action against private CVCs in cases of overcharging.

According to the firm, Covishield, made by Pune-based Serum Institute of India, costs $600 for each dose. Covishield has a 30 per cent GST, and with a 150 per cent service charge, a beneficiary will not spend more than $780 for a vaccine manufactured by Oxford-AstraZeneca.

The price of Sputnik has been established at $948 by multiple producers, including Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma, and Virchow Biotech, in collaboration with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). A recipient will be charged Rs 1,145 if the GST is Rs 47.40 and the service charge is Rs 150.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is priced at $1,200 per dose, according to the Hyderabad-based pharma company. Covaxin is subject to a 70 per cent GST, and with a 150 per cent service charge applied by private facilities, the beneficiary will pay $1,410.