Ramakrishna Mission has written to the Centre seeking 4 lakh Covishield doses at a discounted price of Rs 150 a jab to launch a mass vaccination drive in all 23 districts of Bengal and parts of the Northeast.
All states procure Covishield from the Centre at Rs 300 a dose and private players buy it from the manufacturer the Pune-based Serum Institute of India at Rs 600 a dose.
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Swami Atmapriyananda, the pro-chancellor of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute and coordinator of the Covid vaccination project of the Mission, has urged Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya for a “special concession to procure the vaccines from the Serum Institute India” to vaccinate around 2 lakh people (with both doses) as part of the order’s “Free Covid Vaccination Programme”.