Lok Sabha Question No. 4456 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-23
Subject: Price of Covid-19 Vaccines
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Anto  Antony

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4456

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 rd  March, 2021

## Price of Covid-19 Vaccines

## 4456.   SHRI ANTO ANTONY:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has fixed the price of Covid-19 vaccines;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the  actual  production  cost  of  Covid-19  vaccines  produced  by  various  pharmaceutical companies;
- (d) whether the Covid-19 vaccines are made available in the domestic market with the same price and if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  has  any  details  regarding  the  number  of  covid-19  vaccines available in the international market; and
- (f) if so, the details including the price of each vaccine available in the international markets along with the country of origin?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SHRI D. V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

(a)  to  (c):  National  Pharmaceutical  Pricing  Authority  (NPPA)  under  the  Department  of Pharmaceuticals fixes the ceiling price of scheduled medicines specified in the first schedule of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO) in accordance with the provisions of the Order. The Covid-19 vaccines have not been included in the Schedule-I of DPCO, 2013.

Further, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has informed that the COVID-19 vaccination is provided free of cost at Government COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) and at Private CVCs, COVID-19 vaccination is available at a ceiling cost of INR 250 per dose per person (INR 150 is towards cost of vaccine and remaining INR 100 is for administration charges  to  be  retained  by  the  private  CVC)  for  the  prioritised  categories  as  per  the recommendation  of  the  National  Expert  Group  on  Vaccine  Administration  for  COVID-19 (NEGVAC).

(d):  The  COVID-19  vaccines  are  currently  not  authorised  by  the  Central  Drugs  Control Organization (CDSCO) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for sale in open market in the country.

(e) & (f) The Department of Biotechnology has informed that the information regarding the COVID-19 vaccines in various stages of development, globally, is available in the 'COVID19  candidate  vaccine  landscape  and  tracker  database'  compiled  by  the  World  Health Organization (WHO).  In India, two vaccine candidates for COVID-19 have been approved for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and about five vaccine candidates are in clinical stage of development. Further, many vaccine candidates by industry and academia are in pre-clinical and early stages of development.

Ministry of External Affairs has further informed that it has not done any survey of the price  of  Covid-19  vaccines  in  the  international  market  and  that  Covid  vaccines  are  being procured by the designated public health authorities and the beneficiaries are receiving these vaccines through mechanisms decided by these authorities.

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