Pricing lies at the core of vaccine availability around the world. While no one begrudges a pharma company for making profit, when is it right to start wondering if a company is profiteering? The Universal Immunization Programme procurement of pentavalent vaccines this year will be at a price of Rs 17.37 per dose from Serum Institute, Biological E and Indian Immunologicals. The price of the measles vaccine supplied by Serum Institute to UNICEF, which is also a live vaccine, is 39.6 US cents per dose or Rs 30 per dose. The rabies vaccine, which is an inactivated vaccine and similar in technology to inactivated Covid vaccine, is sold by Bharat Biotech and Indian Immunologicals to state governments for Rs 200 per dose. Therefore, a price of Rs 1,200 per dose for the inactivated Covid vaccine seems to be very high.
