India Lowers COVID-19 Vaccine Commercial Price

India-based Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.'s (SII) CEO tweeted today 'We are pleased to announce that after discussion with the Central Government, SII has decided to lower the price of COVISHIELD vaccine for private hospitals from Rs.600 to Rs 225 per dose (USD 2.96).'

'We once again commend this decision from the Centre to open precautionary dose to all 18+,' commented @adarpoonawalla.

Drug regulators in India granted emergency approval for the COVISHIELD vaccine co-developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford on January 1, 2021. 

Since then, the World Health Organization, Europe, and various other countries have issued authorization.

This COVID-19 vaccine is the same formulation as the Vaxzevria (AZD1222) vaccine, made from an adenovirus (ChAdOx1), a weakened version of a common cold virus.

AstraZeneca and its partners have released over two billion vaccine doses to more than 170 countries since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

SSI is the world's largest manufacturer by the number of vaccine doses produced and sold globally.

Note: This news post edited information from Twitter and manually curated it for mobile readers.