Price of vaccines for pvt hospitals will be decided by manufacturers: Govt

There has been a continued and sharp decline in daily new cases, says senior govt official

There has been a continued and sharp decline in daily new coronavirus cases in the country, the government said on Tuesday, but stressed on following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour to avert any future wave.

In a joint press briefing on the pandemic situation, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said almost 79 per cent decline in daily new COVID-19 cases has been noted since the peak on May 7.

There has been a continued and sharp decline in daily new cases, he said on the second wave of COVID-19.

"33% decline in the number of cases in last one week and 65% reduction in active cases. State-wise, there are 15 states with less than 5% positivity," said Agarwal.

He said India has reported 20,822 coronavirus cases and 252 deaths per million population, which is among the lowest in the world.

The government also stressed on following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour till the population is vaccinated, to avert any future wave.

The price of Covid vaccines to private sectors (hospitals) will be decided by vaccine manufacturers, informed Member (health) NITI Aayog Dr V K Paul on Tuesday.

This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the system of 25 per cent vaccines being procured directly by the private hospitals will continue. State governments will monitor that only Rs 150 service charge is levied by the private hospitals over the decided price of the vaccines.

Dr Paul also said the states will aggregate demand of the private sector, which means they will oversee how much network of facilities it has, and how many doses it requires.

"The price of vaccines to private sectors (hospitals) will be decided by vaccine manufacturers. States will aggregate demand of the private sector, which means they will oversee how much network of facilities it has, and how many doses it requires," Dr Paul said.

It is to mention that within 24 hours of the announcements made by Prime Minister Modi to universalise the countrywide COVID vaccination drive, the the Union Health Ministry has placed an order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 250 million doses of Covishield and with Bharat Biotech for 190 million doses of Covaxin.

The government stressed on following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour till the population is vaccinated, to avert any future wave.

The government also stressed on the need to avoid large gatherings for a couple of months even though states have announced relaxations in lockdown guidelines in view of the declining number of cases.