How Much Money You May Have To Spend For The Corona Vaccine, Let’s Find Out
Shikha Chaurasia
Pune, November 20 2020: When will the Coronavirus Vaccine (COVID-19 Vaccine) arrive in India? How much does it cost? Where will it be available? These questions are constantly arising in the minds of all the citizens. In view of this, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII), has answered these questions. He says that the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine will be available for health workers and elderly people by 20 February and to the general public by April. Apart from this, he has said that its two doses will cost a maximum of one thousand rupees. They believe that probably by 2024, every Indian will get vaccinated.
Poonawala said that perhaps every Indian will get vaccinated in two to three years. Apart from the vaccine supply, we will need a budget, logistics, and infrastructure. In addition, people have to prepare to take the vaccine. In such a situation, all the people will be vaccinated by 2024.
The vaccine will be cheap in India
Poonawalla, during the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS), while answering a question about the price of the vaccine, said that the cost of two essential doses would be thousand rupees. The Indian government will buy the vaccine in large quantities, so it will be available cheaply. It will be priced close to Covaxin. Compared to other vaccines in the market, we are providing the Coronavirus vaccine at a much cheaper rate.
How effective will the vaccine be?
Regarding this, he said that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has also given good results to elderly people, which was previously a concern. It has shown good T-cell response. As such, it can provide immunity against the COVID-19 virus for a long time. However, over time it will be known whether these vaccines will be effective in the long run. At the moment, no one can answer it.
Kids will have to wait a little
Poonawala said that the children will have to wait a bit till the safety data arrives, but the good news is that the novel Coronavirus is not too dangerous for them. The Oxford vaccine is inexpensive and safe. It will require a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius to store, which is the ideal temperature for cold storage in India. He said that the SII has planned to make about 10 crore doses per month from February.
How many doses will be provided to India?
In this regard, Poonawala said that negotiations are still going on and no agreement has been reached in this regard.
