Both Serum's Covishield, Bharat Bio's Covaxin vaccines cost same to Centre

People can't choose between Covishield & Covaxin, says govt; vaccine to take effect two weeks after the second dose

The Centre has bought the first lot of the two approved vaccines — Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — at nearly the same price. The 1.65 million free doses of Covaxin being supplied to the government bring down the effective cost of procuring 5.5 million vaccines from Bharat Biotech to Rs 206 per dose (without taxes).

Moreover, people will not have the option of choosing between the two vaccines, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan clarified on Tuesday. “Many countries in the world are using multiple vaccines. There is no such option available in any country,” Bhushan said.

The Centre has