18 states receiving direct supply of Covaxin from May 1: Bharat Biotech

Bharat Biotech on Tuesday said that it has been directly supplying its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to 18 states since May 1 and reaffirmed plans to continue doing so. The states include Bihar, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, said Bharat Biotech. 

“COVAXIN has been directly supplied to 18 states since May 1st. Unflinching in our efforts, we will continue the steady supply of our #vaccine,” the Hyderabad-based firm said in a tweet.

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The 18 states that the company has supplied to were Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Bharat Biotech began supplies of the vaccine to states on the basis of the Central Government’s allocations, said Suchitra Ella, Managing Director of Bharat Biotech.

On April 29, Bharat Biotech announced a cut in the price of Covaxin for states to Rs 400 per dose from the earlier Rs 600. This followed widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it sold Covaxin to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.

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India expanded its COVID-19 vaccination drive by allowing its large 18-plus population to get inoculated from May 1.