India has allowed sales of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the open market from May 1 with an aim to bring everyone over the age of 18 can under vaccination programme and to encourage vaccine makers to boost production.
Under what it called a “liberalised" and “accelerated" programme, vaccine makers were told to supply half the doses to state governments for sale in the open market at yet-to-be-decided prices and the other half to the central government under the previous subsidised price regime, reports livemint.com.
The two-tier system would kick off once manufacturers declare their market price by May 1.
With states plagued by a shortage of vaccines, the government said its latest “liberalised" strategy would help scale up production.
“This would augment vaccine production as well as availability, incentivising vaccine manufacturers to rapidly ramp up their production as well as attract new vaccine makers, domestic and international. It would also make pricing, procurement, eligibility and administration of vaccines open and flexible, allowing all stakeholders the flexibility to customize to local needs and dynamics," the government said.
The decision came in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on phase 3 of the government’s vaccination drive, ahead of the end of the current phase 2 on April 30.
The decision came amid a still-surging second wave of infections, with India on Monday reporting around 275,000 cases in the past 24 hours even as several states complained of a shortage of vaccines. The government told manufacturers to transparently make an advance declaration of the price for 50 per cent supply that would be available to states and in the open market.
“Based on this price, state governments, private hospitals, industrial establishments, etc., would be able to procure vaccine doses. Private hospitals would have to procure supplies exclusively from the 50 per cent supply earmarked for other than the government of India channel. Private vaccination providers shall transparently declare their self-set vaccination price," it said.
Vaccination at government centres, meanwhile, will continue, provided free of cost to the eligible population as defined earlier—healthcare and frontline workers and everyone aged 45 and over.
Two indigenously manufactured vaccines—Covishield by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech—are being administered currently. A third, the Russian vaccine Sputnik, has also received the regulator’s nod. It will be imported to start with, before it too begins production in India.
“The government will allow the imported, fully ready-to-use vaccines to be entirely utilized in the other than the government of India channel," the health ministry said.
