Pfizer plans layered pricing in India, free shots in Africa

Pfizer plans layered pricing in India, free shots in Africa

Overview

  • Post By : Kumar Jeetendra

  • Source: Reuters

  • Date: 09 Dec,2020

Pfizer Inc has decided to price its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, BNT162b2 COVID-19, on the basis of the GDP of the country. The Chief Executive Officer of the American pharmaceutical company, Albert Bourla, has said the company will have tiered pricing to its middle-income nations, including India.

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was initially approved by Britain on December 2. A week after the approval, the initial shot was administered on December 8 to Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old girl from Northern Ireland. An early riser, Keenan received the jab in her local hospital in Coventry, central England, a week before she turns 91.

Pfizer has applied for emergency use authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine in India. The firm is the first to do so in a country with the world’s second-highest variety of infections.

The US company approached Indian authorities on December 5, VK Paul, who’s advising the government on COVID-19 matters reportedly said.

India’s drugs regulator normally takes up to 90 days to decide on such applications but a decision on Pfizer’s vaccine could come much faster than that, Paul said.

The Pfizer shot needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below, temperatures that industry experts say many cold storage facilities in India will find it tough to keep.

India has reported more than 97.35 lakh COVID-19 instances, the planet’s second-highest following the United States, with more than 1.41 lakh deaths, according to the union health ministry’s data released on December 9.

About Author