Tag: mrna vaccine

Government sources have indicated that India may not procure the mRNA vaccine, which American major Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech have developed, for the immunization drive. The higher cost of the Pfizer vaccine, already approved by the UK and the US regulators, is among the primary reasons why other options may be preferred by India. At $37 per dose, the Pfizer vaccine is much more expensive compared to $3 per dose for the Covishield, a vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, according to the sources. Also Unlike others, Pfizer would require minus 70 degree Celsius temperature for storage. Even the Russian vaccine Sputnik V is cheaper than Pfizer at $10 per dose. Indigenous vaccines from Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are expected to be in the range of $3-6 per dose. The cost of cold-chain infrastructure to maintain the stringent temperature requirement for the Pfizer vaccine would add to the overall expenditure.