oppn parties Covid Vaccines Cannot Be Priced As Any Other Vaccine

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Covid Vaccines Cannot Be Priced As Any Other Vaccine

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-06-16 11:38:25

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Both Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech, makers of Covishield and Covaxin respectively, have urged the government to raise the price at which it is acquiring the Covid vaccines from them. Their argument is that the average price (reported to be in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 250 per dose excluding taxes) now is not sustainable due to the fact that a lot of costly R&D went into developing the vaccines and they have to upgrade their facilities. They say that at current price, they are just recouping their costs and making a small profit. But, they say, they have to make super profits to recoup R&D costs and for future R&D.

Their arguments are perfectly logical. But that is in the case of any other vaccine. In case of Covid vaccines, these arguments do not hold. For, most other vaccines take years to develop and then several more years to test and market. The Covid vaccines were developed, tested and administered in a record 10 to 11 months. Then, most other vaccines are sold in thousands of doses over a period of several years. Here we are talking about millions of doses in a span of just one year. Also, most other vaccines need extensive marketing which is a costly exercise. Commissions have to be paid at each point in the sales channel. Even doctors have to be 'paid' to prescribe their brand if there are competing vaccines. Companies also have attractive schemes for the trade (like "buy three, get two free" etc) for most other vaccines. Lastly, in all other vaccines, there are expired and unsold products, sometimes to the extent of 5% of sales, which the companies have to take back from the market. The companies are saving all these costs. Further, in the case of Covaxin, the government of India, through ICMR, has contributed funds in R&D.

If the companies say that these costs are not sustainable, the government must sit with them to renegotiate the price. But the pricing of vaccines which are to be procured in millions of doses in a short span of time and for which the government is making advance payment in part cannot be priced in a manner similar to any other vaccine. The companies have to keep this in mind. 

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