Covaxin-maker Bharat Biotech has written to Delhi government expressing its inability to make any “additional supplies” of vaccine as required by the national capital, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday.
This vaccine-maker has cited limited availability of vaccine in wake of huge demand and dispatches being made according to directives of concerned government officials (Central government) as reasons for its inability to make the additional supplies, Sisodia said at a press conference while reading out the Bharat Biotech letter.
Delhi had given an order for 67 lakh doses of Covaxin after the Centre liberalised the process to allow States to directly procure 50 per cent of its requirement from vaccine manufacturers. The Delhi government had also separately given an order for 67 lakh doses from Pune-based Serum Institute, which is the maker of Covishield.
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Delhi was pinning its hopes on the supply of 1.34 crore doses to achieve its aim of vaccinating all eligible beneficiaries in next three months.
“We had demanded 1.34 crore doses – 67 lakhs each of Covaxin and Covishield. Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) wrote to us yesterday that they can’t provide. They wrote “We are making dispatches as per directives of concerned government officials,” Sisodia said, adding that the apparent reference here was to the Central government and its officials.
Vaccination sites closed
With no additional supplies of Covaxin expected, Delhi has now been forced to shutdown 100 Covaxin vaccination sites in 17 schools due to no supply, Sisodia said.
Sisodia had on Tuesday announced that Delhi government will float a global tender for procuring Covid vaccines even as he accused the BJP-ruled Centre of forcing State governments to compete among themselves in the international market for anti-Covid shots.
Only three vaccines have been approved by the Centre to be sold in India – Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V.
Asserting that there was vaccine mismanagement by the Centre, Sisodia said that exporting 6.3 crore doses of vaccine was the biggest mistake when the people in India were struggling to get access to these vaccines during the ongoing second wave of the pandemic.
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