Hyderabad: The scientists at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad who played a significant role in the development of COVAXIN, the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech, are asked to pay Rs 1400 to take a single dose of the same vaccine.
IICT was approached by Bharat Biotech to develop the synthetic route for the agonist molecule using indigenous chemicals with the highest purity at an affordable price. This project was completed by IICT in four months, which led to the success of COVAXIN.
After the hard work put in by IICT, their students and staff are being asked to pay for their vaccination. According to a circular issued by the IICT staff club, the employees and the students will have to pay Rs.1400 for COVAXIN and Rs.1000 for COVISHIELD.
The circular said that the vaccination drive is being arranged by the IICT staff club and interested staff members and students are requested to provide their options for necessary arrangements to be made.
COVAXIN is India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. It is developed using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell derived platform technology. This vaccine is inactive and contains a dead virus that is capable of instructing the immune system to develop a defense mechanism against the virus.
