COVID vaccine: Here's how much Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik V and DRDO’s 2-DG will cost you, check rates for private hospitals

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday announced a price cap for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines in private hospitals. In a letter to all states and union territories, the Health Ministry suggested that appropriate strict action be taken against private vaccination centres for overcharging. The Health Ministry asked states to ensure that the prices declared by various private CVCs do not exceed the ceiling

 

While the maximum price for Covaxin and Covishield has been fixed at Rs 1,410 and Rs 780 per dose respectively, Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine will cost Rs 1,145 per dose in private hospitals.

Developed by Bharat Biotech, Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine which means that it is made up of killed coronaviruses, making it safe to be injected into the body. Bharat Biotech, a leading vaccine maker of India, used a sample of the coronavirus, isolated by India's National Institute of Virology to develop the anti-COVID jab. When administered, immune cells can still recognise the dead virus, prompting the immune system to make antibodies against the pandemic virus. The two doses of Covaxin are administered in four-week time. The vaccine can be stored at 2C to 8C and has an efficacy rate of 81%. 

 

Bharat Biotech got the DCGI approval for emergency use in January. The vaccine maker claimed that it has a stockpile of 20 million doses of Covaxin, and is aiming to make 700 million doses out of its four facilities in two cities by the end of the year. Bharat Biotech has set the cost of its Covaxin at Rs 1,200 a dose for private establishments (excluding Rs 60 GST). 

The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, is producing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine locally. The vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. 

 

When the vaccine is injected into a patient, it prompts the immune system to start making antibodies and primes it to attack any coronavirus infection. The jab is administered in two doses given between four and 12 weeks apart. It can be safely stored at temperatures of 2C to 8C and can easily be delivered in existing health care settings such as doctors' surgeries. The Serum Institute of India sells its Covishield to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose (excluding Rs 30 GST). 

Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute. It uses a cold-type virus, engineered to be harmless, as a carrier to deliver a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body. Safely exposing the body to a part of the virus's genetic code in this way allows it to recognise the threat and learn to fight it off, without the risk of becoming ill.

 

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is marketing the vaccine, has signed deals to produce more than 750 million doses of Sputnik V in India with six domestic vaccine makers, according to reports. Sputnik-V is supplied to private hospitals at Rs 948 per dose.

Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) new COVID-19 drug – 2-DG has been recently granted permission for use as adjuvant therapy (treatment given in addition to the primary treatment) in moderate to severe COVID patients by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). This drug has been jointly developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

 

The company claims that the drug can be produced easily in huge quantities as well. The drug essentially comes in a powder form in a sachet and is to be taken twice a day by dissolving it in water, for at least a week. DRDO's anti-Covid drug 2-DG will cost Rs 990 per sachet.