For future orders, SII to provide free replacement if vaccine expires: Adar Poonawalla

SII CEO Adar Poonawalla. | Illustration: MoneyControl

With a vast section of the adult population being inoculated and the pace of vaccination declining in most parts of the country, Serum Institute of India (SII) chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla on April 8 said "free replacement" would be provided to hospitals, in case of future orders, if the vaccine expires.

"Everyone is accurate in pointing out that there is COVID fatigue and vaccine fatigue," Poonawalla told CNBC TV18, adding that taking this into consideration, SII is introducing the free replacement policy.

"No hospital should ever be in a position to throw away vaccine...For future orders, Serum will provide free replacement to hospitals in case a Serum vaccine expires," he said.

SII is currently producing two COVID-19 vaccines for mass usage in India - Covishield and Covovax. The former, which is the same as the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has been used for inoculating over 90 percent of the country's vaccinated population.

Covovax, which is the SII-produced version of the Novovax vaccine developed in the US, received regulatory nod last month for use on children aged above 12.

Both the vaccines have a shelf life of nine months, provided that the vials are safely stored at a temperature ranging from 2 to 8 degree celsius.

"In 10-14 days, Covovax can be available on CoWin at about Rs 900 plus tax," Poonawalla said, noting that the end user will have to pay price as mentioned on the application. The vaccine will be distributed to registered clinics and hospitals, he added.

For Covishield, SII will give a "heavy discount", Poonawalla said, adding that the vaccine will be sold to hospitals "below Rs 600 per dose".

"We are going to make the terms easy and equitable...My team is in touch with all private hospitals," Poonawalla added.

On the Centre's decision to allow a third vaccine dose for all adults from April 10, the Serum chief executive said it will be a "huge relief for all those who wanted to have a booster as precautionary measure or for travel."