Order for 160 million vaccine doses placed last month: Centre

The government said it placed a third order last month for 160 million vaccine doses to be delivered over the following three months, rebutting media reports that it hadn’t sought more Covid jabs. This comes as the vaccine programme, expanded since May 1, hasn’t been able to keep up with demand as people say they have failed to get appointments on the CoWin website.

The Centre had on April 28 ordered 110 million doses of Covishield, made by Serum Institute of India (SII) and 50 million of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin to cover inoculations until July, the government said in a statement on Monday.

It said full advance payment had been made on April 28 — Rs 1,732.5 crore to SII and Rs 787.5 crore to Bharat Biotech—for the vaccines to be supplied over three months, the Centre said. “Hence to say that fresh orders have not been placed by the government of India is not correct,” it said in the statement.

Even as it had placed fresh orders, the two manufacturers haven’t fully delivered on the second order, the government said. Of 100 million doses of Covishield ordered in the second round, SII had delivered 87.4 million while Bharat Biotech had supplied 8.81 million of 20 million ordered, it said.

SII CEO Adar Poonawalla agreed that the company had received orders for a total 260 million doses. He said over 150 million doses had been supplied so far. This includes the first order as well.

“We have also got 100% advance of Rs 1,732.5 crore by GoI for the next tranche of 11 crore (110 million) doses in the next few months,” he said in a statement on Monday. “Another 11 crore doses would be supplied in the second channel for states and private hospitals in the next few months.”

In the interview to the Financial Times, Poonawalla had blamed the delays in production being stepped up to lack of orders and warned of vaccine shortages until July.

“There were no orders, we did not think we needed to make more than 1 billion doses a year,” he said in the interview.

THIRD ORDER
With this third order, India’s vaccine spend is now at Rs 5,895.75 crore for 346 million doses.

The details of the third order of 160 million vaccines has raised hope among states of improving supplies as the Centre has said half the companies’ production will be for state governments and private hospitals to tap.

Just before the rollout of the public immunisation drive on January 16, the Centre had ordered 66 million doses--56 million of Covishield and 10 million of Covaxin.

The first order of Rs 1,485.75 crore was funded through the PM CARES fund. Covishield was bought at Rs 210 per dose, inclusive of 5% GST, and Covaxin at Rs 309.75. The second order, bigger in size, saw lower rates after the Centre bargained with the vaccine manufacturers. As first reported by ET on March 11, the Centre had renegotiated a standard Rs 157.50 per dose for both vaccines. This was for the second phase of the vaccination drive which covered senior citizens.

The second and third orders–worth Rs 1,890 crore and Rs 2,520 crore, respectively–have been funded through budget allocations. The vaccines were given free at government-run centres, while private facilities charged a total Rs 250. Starting May 1, states and private hospitals have to pay a higher price for vaccines.