Oxford Vaccine Cost Revealed, To Be Available By April 2021

Coming as good news to all the Indians, the Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla announced that the country could receive the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for the frontline healthcare workers by early next year and to all the general public by April 2021.

He also said that the vaccine will be priced at a maximum of Rs 1,000 for two necessary doses for the public, depending on the final trial results and regulatory approvals.

Serum Institute seeks to apply for an emergency use authorization from Drug Controller General of India V.G. Somani for the vaccine next month, and get the regulatory green light in January.

“It will probably take two or three years for every Indian to get inoculated, not just because of the supply constraints but because you need the budget, the vaccine, logistics, infrastructure”, Adar Poonawalla said.

He also added, “people should be willing to take the vaccine. So these are the factors that lead up to being able to vaccinate 80-90 percent of the population”.

Mr Poonawalla said the Oxford vaccine is affordable, safe and stored at a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius, which is an ideal temperature for it to be stored in the cold storages of India.