Covaxin stock has almost ended, Covishield to last for 3 days in Delhi: Health minister Satyendar Jain

“Central govt is a partner in Covaxin's manufacturing so they can share the formula with others. Centre should cap prices of all vaccines and it should not be more than ₹150 per dose,” Health minister Satyendar Jain said.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Friday called on the central government to cap the prices of all vaccines in India at ₹150 per dose. He also said that the vaccination drive in government schools for people over 45 years of age would begin soon in the national capital.

"Covaxin stock has almost ended. We only have 2-3 days of stock for Covidshield vaccines for 18- 44 years of age group," Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said. (HT File Photo)

“Central govt is a partner in Covaxin's manufacturing so they can share the formula with others. Centre should cap prices of all vaccines and it should not be more than ₹150 per dose. We will start vaccination for 45 years and above age group in government schools soon,” news agency ANI quoted Jain as saying.

Briefing on the vaccine availability in Delhi, the health minister said that the city currently has stocks enough for two or three days to vaccinate beneficiaries in the 18 to 44 years age group. “Covaxin stock has almost ended. We only have 2-3 days of stock for Covidshield vaccines for 18- 44 years of age group. We can't mix already assigned centres for Covaxin & Covishield vaccines,” ANI quoted Jain as saying.

Jain also said that the central government should procure the Covid-19 vaccines through a global tender and mentioned that only three vaccines, namely Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V, could be procured using such tenders. Earlier on Thursday too, the minister made similar comments saying “I suggested the Health Ministry if the vaccine has to be purchased from foreign countries, then instead of different states floating different global tenders, the Centre should purchase these vaccines on behalf of the states,” according to a report by ANI.

The health minister also said that the national capital is seeing a decline in the number of daily new Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate has fallen by half from its previous highest. “Yesterday [on Thursday] we reported 10,489 positive cases and the positivity rate was 14.24%. The highest positivity rate was 36% in Delhi so now it is less than half of it. We're seeing a decline in trends from April 24,” Jain said.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a press conference on Friday afternoon said that the case positivity rate in Delhi has come down to 12 per cent in the last 24 hours and around 8,500 new infections of the coronavirus disease have been reported in the city.