The central government is mulling a GST (Good and Services Tax) waiver on coronavirus vaccines to reduce their costs. The COVID-19 vaccines are priced up to Rs 1,200 in private hospitals. The proposed move is an attempt to ease the burden on people and encourage vaccination, Hindustan Times reported.
The government has already waived off import duty on pharmaceutical raw materials required to manufacture drugs for coronavirus treatment., and now the government is mulling whether to scrap the 5 percent GST on COVID-19 vaccines on similar grounds, the report said.
Serum Institute’s Covishield is priced at Rs 300 per dose for state government and Rs 600 for private hospitals, while Bharat Biotech’on April 24 declared Covaxin’s prices— ₹600 per dose for state governments and ₹1,200 per dose for private hospitals. Every person is required to take two doses in a span of eight weeks
A person apprised of the development told the daily that the waiver will require the approval of the GST Council but it is unlikely that anyone would oppose the move that will provide relief to people in all states.
Amid widespread criticism over its pricing policy, the Serum Institute of India on Wednesday announced that it wil reduce price of its Covishield vaccine for states from Rs 400 to Rs 300 per dose.
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“As a philanthropic gesture on behalf of Serum Institute of India, I hereby reduce the price to the states from Rs 400 to Rs.300 per dose, effective immediately; this will save thousands of crores of state funds going forward. This will enable more vaccinations and save countless lives,” Poonawalla wrote in his tweet.
Meanwhile, the online registration for covid vaccination has been met with an overwhelming response as more than 1.3 crore people applied for appointment on government’s dedicated portal Co-Win on Wednesday.
