Procuring Covishield: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray meets SII chief

Health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said that the state would import vaccines that are available globally, including Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik to enable the vaccination of those between 18 and 45 years, following a decision by the Centre to open up vaccination for all adults starting May 1.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a preliminary meeting with senior state officials and with SII chief Adar Poonawalla (over video conference) to discuss the quantities of Covishield vaccine that Maharashtra could procure from the vaccine manufacturer even as health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said that the state would import vaccines that are available globally, including Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik to enable the vaccination of those between 18 and 45 years, following a decision by the Centre to open up vaccination for all adults starting May 1.

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“The chief minister sought to know the supply of doses SII can provide to the state considering their current commitments. Based on assurances from [SII], the chief minister will now devise a strategy that will include price, who would be considered for free vaccination, the financial burden on the exchequer among other things,” an official aware of the developments said requesting anonymity.

Serum Institute of India on Wednesday announced it will sell its anti-Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine, Covishield, for ₹400 to state governments, and ₹600 to private hospitals in the country, adding that in next 4-5 months the vaccines will be made available in retail and free trade.

The media statement also provided a price comparison with other vaccines available in the global market, including American, Russian and Chinese vaccines.

“I have come to know that Covishield has fixed ₹400 per vial for government hospitals and ₹600 per vial for private hospitals. Besides, US vaccines are available at ₹1500 per vial, Russian vaccine at ₹750 per vial and Chinese vaccine at ₹750 per vial. The state has decided to use all the vaccines available be it Covishield or the imported ones for the age group of 18-45 years,” Tope said.

On Tuesday, the minister said following a state cabinet meeting that Maharashtra would import vaccines.

“We have also decided to import stock of other vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Sputnik from other countries. There will be no dearth of the money for the vaccine, as we have decided to use the development funds to procure vaccine stock,” he said.

The health minister clarified on Wednesday that those above 45 will continue to be vaccinated under the national drive run by the central government – making the two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin available free of cost at government centres, and at a subsidised price in private hospitals.

“We have decided to postpone some (development) works that are not so urgent and hold a successful large-scale vaccination drive in the state to cover maximum people,” he said.

“We want to ramp up the ongoing vaccination drive as well and continue to demand stock for at least eight days so that we can send the supply in time. Geographically Maharashtra is a large state and vaccine supply at certain places takes a day or two,” he added.

At present, the state is holding the vaccination drive at nearly 4,000 centres and has covered 12.9 million beneficiaries that include health care workers, frontline workers and all those above 45 years of age. Of them, 188,778 have received one dose, while 86,991 have received both doses of the vaccines.

Thackeray is likely to hold a meeting with health department officials after the state receives further guidelines from the Centre on the vaccination drive for adults above the age of 18.

The health department officials on Wednesday also held a video conference with officials from the union ministry of health and family welfare to discuss modalities of the vaccination drive, officials said.

In Maharashtra, with 73% of the state population in the age group of above 18 years, more than 90 million people are now eligible for the vaccine.

The state has 10,000 health sub-centres, 1,828 primary health centres, 365 rural hospitals, 100 sub-district hospitals and around 40 district and general hospitals.

“With this network we can hold a big vaccination drive and cover maximum people in less time. We also have staff that is trained for vaccination as we have conducted a vaccination drive for measles-rubella in 2018. The only thing is the availability of vaccines, if we could get them, then holding a large-scale drive is possible,” a senior health official said.

“A strategy can be devised only after the Centre sends a communication with details on what they have planned, the allocations, and supply. Without this we cannot devise our strategy,” a senior official said.

A PIB statement issued on Monday stated that vaccine makers will be able to sell half of what they produce at a price of their choosing to the open market and to state governments.

If the vaccines have been imported as ready-to-use, the government will allow all of the stocks to be sold on the open market or to the states. The pricing for any doses sold in the open market will need to be “transparent”, although the government’s release did not indicate a cap.

Vaccine manufacturers will still need to supply half the vaccines to the Centre for the state-sponsored component of the vaccination programme, which remains limited to the 45-and-over age group, and health care and front-line workers even after May 1.

Sputnik V made by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, was approved formally on April 13 and its initial doses are expected to be imported. On Monday, pharma giant Johnson & Johnson applied to India’s drug regulator seeking permission to conduct Phase-3 clinical trial of its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine in India as well as for an import license.

Last week India said that it would fast-track emergency approvals for vaccines authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna shots. None of the companies have announced plans to enter the Indian market under the fast-track routes as yet.