'Will deal only with Centre': Moderna refuses to supply vaccines to Punjab
Moderna told the Punjab government that their policy only allows them to deal with the central government and not with any state government or private parties. Moderna's decision is expected to throw cold water on the plans of other states that are trying to directly procure vaccines.
FollowCovid vaccine manufacturer Moderna has turned down the Punjab government's request to supply its Covid-19 vaccine to the state, citing a policy that states that the company will only deal with the government of India.
Moderna told the Punjab government that according to their policy, they only deal with the central government and not with any state government or private parties. Moderna's decision is expected to throw cold water on the plans of other states that are trying to directly procure vaccines.
Disclosing the worrying development in Chandigarh on Sunday, State Nodal Officer for vaccination Vikas Garg said that the state government had approached all vaccine manufacturers to explore possibilities of floating a global tender for procuring vaccines from all possible sources at the earliest.
These included Sputnik V, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Garg said that only Moderna responded to the state government. In their response, Moderna refused to deal with the state government.
Moderna's response is expected to make other states jittery and increase the headache for the Centre about the ongoing vaccination drive.Â
The Punjab government was forced to stop Phase I and Phase 2 category vaccinations in the last three days due to the non-availability of doses.Â
The state administration claimed that it had received less than 44 lakh vaccine doses from the Centre.
As per GoI allocation for Phase III (18-44 age group), the state government has been able to buy only 4.2 lakh vaccine doses, including 66,000 received on Saturday.Â
The state nodal officer informed that a total of 3.65 lakh had already been used, leaving only 64000 in stock.
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