Here's The List Of Prices Of All COVID-19 Vaccines Authorised Around The World

As a number of vaccines roll out in the market for authorized use around the world, it gives us hopes of going back to pre-COVID order of life in the near future. As India will launch its COVID-19 vaccinations drive on January 16, it is set to become one of the world's largest inoculation programme. Furthermore, utmost priority would be given to nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers.

Other than that, India approved two vaccines for use, i.e Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Covishield by Oxford-AstraZeneca (manufactured by Serum Institute for India and COVAX countries). While the former is indigenously developed, the latter is a product of foreign undertakings.

Let us look at the price of not only these two, but four other approved vaccines developed around the world:

Covaxin

Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). It is an inactivated SARS COV-2 virus, readapted as a vaccine.

The central government has ordered around 5.5 million Covaxin doses at 12 centres before January 14. The vaccine will be sold at ₹295 per dose after a price agreement with the government.

Covishield

Covishield, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca has been manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII) for our country and also for other nations. It was dispatched to 13 locations from the Pune-based firm. Covishield is an adenovirus vaccine. It has been developed using a weakened version of adenovirus. The genetic material of the weak virus is same as that of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. This weak virus has been repurposed as a vaccine.

The CEO of SII, Adar Poonawalla announced, "We have given a special price of Rs 200 for the first 100 million doses only to the Government of India. It is for their request that we want to support the common man, vulnerable, poor and healthcare workers. After that, we'll be selling it at Rs 1,000 in private markets."

Sputnik V

Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine which is based on a well-studied human adenoviral non-replicating viral vector. Developed by Russia, it will also be manufactured in India besides other countries, as stated by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), entrusted with managing the global reach of the vaccine candidate.

According to reports, one dose of the vaccine, which has shown over 95% efficacy, will cost less than 10 US dollars, i.e.  740 rupees. Two doses of the Sputnik V vaccine is required for every person to be protected from the virus. Hence, the total cost of the jab will be less than 20 US dollars, i.e 1480 rupees per person.

CoronaVac

CoronaVac is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. It is also another traditional inactivated vaccine, also using alum as an adjuvant to boost the immunity. Sinovac has already sold more than 300 million doses, primarily to low and middle income countries. Furthermore, CoronaVac has been found to be 78 per cent effective, as announced by Brazil officials. On the other hand, late-stage trials in Turkey in December showed that the vaccine was 91.25 per cent effective.

The vaccine has not been authorised in India. However, various other countries like Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and China have been incurred around 400 yuan ($60; £45) per dose. It is equal to 4005 rupees.

Moderna

Based on mRNA technology, it has been reported that its experimental vaccine is 94.5 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19, based on interim data from a late-stage clinical trial. It is the second developer to report results that far exceeded expectations after Pfizer and its partner BioNTech.

USA, Israel, EU and Canada have approved its use, whereas Indian government is still in talks with the firm about its approval. If sold in India, company will charge between 2348-2715 rupees per dose. However, experts have pointed out that the vaccines need to be stored at -20 degree Celsius. Hence, it is not ideal for India where the storage infrastructure is inadequate.

Price Table

Pfizer-BioNTech

The developers have shipped almost 33 million vaccine doses so far from six manufacturing sites in the US and Europe. With an efficacy rate of more than 95 per cent, it has been approved by regulators in the UK, USA, EU and more than 40 other countries.

The price of this vaccine is said to differ from country to country. Although not approved till now, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will cost around 1,431 rupees per dose in India. However, the insufficient cold storage facilities pose problems for storing the vaccine in our country. Another mRNA-based vaccine, it works by introducing an mRNA sequence (the molecule which tells cells what to build) coded for a disease-specific antigen. Once produced within the body, the antigen is recognised by the immune system and prepares to fight the real virus.

Here is the price table of the various approved and other vaccines in their trial stages shown in today's PBI press meet:

Credits: Youtube (PIB)

Also Read: Meet 10 Female Scientists Instrumental In Developing COVID-19 Vaccines Around the World