CoviShield Sold to Maldives at Higher Price: Leaked Agreement

Dhiyares, the sister-newspaper of The Maldives Journal, have acquired a copy of the agreement made between the Maldivian government and the Serum Institute of India regarding the sale of CoviShield vaccines it manufactures. According to the agreement, the vaccines were sold to the Maldives at a price higher than what Indian hospitals were charged.

The agreement quoted the price of USD$5.25 per dose for the Maldivian government, which had requested the sale of 300,000 doses, resulting in the sum total of USD$ 1,576,000.

The agreement required that the Maldivian government pay the lump sum in advance to an account designated by the Serum Institute.

The Minister of Finance, Ibrahim Ameer, had released a circular regarding the suspension of articles 10.43, 10.52, and 10.67 of the Public Financial Regulations for the entire duration of the agreement. It is assumed that this temporary suspension was ordered to make the lump-sum payment in advance.

Dr Shah Mahir, State Minister of the Ministry of Health, responded to Dhiyares by stating that it had eventually been decided to not purchase the doses from the Serum Institute. The decision had been made because the State had procured enough doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine sufficient for the entire population. Dr Mahir also said that no funds had been transferred to the Serum Institute either.

However, given that 100,000 doses of the CoviShield vaccine had been brought to the Maldives on March 29, 2021, it is highly probable that the lump-sum amount had already been paid to the company.

According to Indian media reports, the Serum Institute had sold CoviShield at USD$2-3 a dose to Indian hospitals.

The Health Emergency Operations Centre had declined to comment on any of Dhiyares' questions.