On the 27th of April, the Supreme Court (SC) asked the Central Government to explain their rationale over the pricing of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Supreme Court judge D.Y. Chandrachud asked the Union of India (UoI) to explain the difference in pricing of vaccines and other necessary equipment for COVID-19 patients. The matter was taken by the Apex Court considering the massive rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in India. With the rising number of cases, the people suffering from the infection are struggling to get proper medical attention, issues like shortage of beds, oxygen supply also increased.
The SC bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Ravindra Bhatt heard a suo moto case registered in the wake of the COVID-19 situation in India. The Top Court said they cannot be a “mute spectator” as the number of new COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the Country.
The Court asked the Union Government to file an affidavit to the SC before the 30th of April. D.Y. Chandrachud said, “The Union of India shall clarify in its affidavit the basis and rationale adopted in regard to the pricing of vaccines.” .
Besides the Central Government and the UOI, state governments would also need to file their respective replies by the 30th of April 6:00 P.M.
In their brief affidavits, respective states need to inform about their health infrastructure (shortage of oxygen and others.)
In addition, the SC also authorised the State High Courts (HCs) of passing any judgement or directions to the state governments regarding COVID-19 situation.
The Apex Court said, “The High Courts shall not be restrained in passing any directions, as they are hearing the cases in their respective states and they know the ground situation better.”
The matter was taken up recently, after the state governments complained about the high prices of vaccines which would be provided to the state governments from the 1st of May.
The two India made vaccine manufacturers, the Bharat Biotech International Private Limited and the Serum Institute of India (SII) fixed prices of COVAXIN and Covisheild for state governments and private hospitals. While COVAXIN would be sold at Rs. 600 to government and Rs. 1,200 to private hospitals, pricing for Covisheild is Rs. 400 for government and Rs. 600 for private hospitals.
Whereas, both the vaccines are available to the Central Government at a rate of Rs. 150 per dose.
When asked to reduce the prices, the SII said, the higher prices are because it needs to invest in scaling up and expanding capacity in order to produce more doses of the vaccine.
The spokesperson of the SII said, “Only a limited portion of SII’s volume will be sold to private hospitals at ₹600 per dose. The price of the vaccine is still lower than a lot of other medical treatments and essentials required to treat COVID-19 and other life-threatening illnesses (sic.)”
Besides the COVID-19 vaccination issue, the SC also asked about the arrangements like beds, oxygen supply to patients, plan of the Central Government in the third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, in which people above 18 years would also get vaccination. The Apex Court asked the GoI to clarify the projected requirement of vaccines as a result of the expansion in coverage.
The next hearing regarding the matter is scheduled to be held at noon on the 30th of April.
Stay tuned for further updates.
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