Govt orders 10cr more doses of Covishield

NEW DELHI: The government has placed a new purchase order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for the supply of 10-crore doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine — Covishield — each dose costing Rs 157.5, including GST, according to official sources.


HLL Lifecare Limited, a PSU, has issued the supply order on behalf of the

Union health ministry

on March 12 in the name of Prakash Kumar Singh, director, government and regulatory affairs, at the Pune-based SII. The cost of the 10-crore doses would be borne by the health ministry under the budgetary allocation for the purpose. The expenditure for the earlier orders of the Covid vaccines was funded by

PM Cares Fund

, the sources added.

India has approved two vaccines against Covid — Covishield, manufactured by SII, and the indigenously-developed Covaxin of Hyderabad-based

Bharat Biotech

— for restricted emergency use.