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 India's drug regulator has approved emergency use of the vaccine
developed by Oxford University as well as another developed by
Indian firm Bharat Biotech, but the government has not placed firm
orders with either firm.
Senior officials have been discussing the terms of the deal with the
Serum Institute for weeks, hoping to bring down prices below $3 per
shot, one of the sources with direct knowledge told Reuters.
Serum chief executive Adar Poonawalla had told the CNBC-TV18 channel
in November the vaccine would be priced at about 1,000 rupees
($13.55) per dose for the private market in India and would cost the
government about 250 Indian rupees ($3.40) per dose.
Some officials are seeing the possibility of a further lowering of
prices, the source said. To vaccinate a country of over 1.3 billion
people involves a large cost and every rupee saved would help, the
source said.
"Any government would do this, we need to keep costs down," the
source said.
"Price is an issue with Serum. Government needs to control it,"
another official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
India's federal health ministry and Serum Institute did not respond
to requests for comment.
On Saturday, the government announced the immunisation programme
will begin on Jan. 16. The plan is to cover 300 million people in
the first part of the programme, kicking off with health workers,
frontline staff such as police and then people over the age of 50
and those with co-morbidities.
That will require 600 million doses and Serum, the world's largest
manufacturer of vaccines has stockpiled 50 million doses for
immediate distribution.
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 There is no word yet on
negotiations with Bharat Biotech whose vaccine
developed in collaboration with the Indian
council for Medical Research was given an
emergency licence although it has not completed
efficacy trials.
With the Serum Institute, the government is also
trying to close in on a price it wants before
clearing any shipments for exports or private
sales, officials said. "More
than 150 countries want this vaccine. But nothing will move until
the government reaches an agreement on prices," the official said.
India has said no restrictions on exports were in place, but is yet
to formally announce export clearance despite pressure from Brazil
that has sought 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made in
India.
The AstraZeneca shot, locally branded as COVISHIELD in India, is
expected to meet 90% of India's mass immunisation programme needs,
the official said.
The government aims to secure 600 million doses for the country's
vaccination drive aimed at inoculating 300 million citizens over the
next six to eight months.
($1 = 73.4960 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Neha Arora and Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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