No option to select between 2 vaccines, says govt.

No option to select between 2 vaccines, says govt.

13/01/2021

Special Correspondent NEW DELHI

People will not have the option of making a choice between the two available COVID vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — when the roll-out starts on January 16, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Union government, he said, had agreed to procure 110 lakh Covishield doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII) at ₹200/dose and 55 lakh doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech (BBIL), of which 38.5 lakh doses is priced at ₹295/dose. BBIL would provide 16.5 lakh doses of Covaxin free of cost to the Central government as a special gesture.

‘Continuous oversight’

“Our expectations from the States/UTs is that all logistics should be ready by January 16 and there should be continuous oversight and personal involvement in the entire process. Also, there should be special focus on communication activities and utilisation of all channels to create an encouraging environment,” Mr. Bhushan said.