The stock of Covaxin in Delhi has finished and as a result around 100 vaccination centres set up in 17 schools have been closed, said Manish Sisodia
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today said Bharat Biotech has informed the state government that it cannot provide 'additional' Covaxin doses to the national capital. The stock of Covaxin in Delhi has finished and as a result around 100 vaccination centres set up in 17 schools have been closed, he said.
"The Covaxin manufacturer has in a letter said that it can not provide Delhi government vaccines due to unavailability, under instruction of concerned government official. It means that the central government is controlling supply of the vaccine," Sisodia said.
Across India, the pace of vaccination has slowed down by 35%—from an average 2.9 million daily doses in April to 1.9 million a day in the first 10 days of May
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"We had demanded 1.34 crore doses, 67 lakhs each of Covaxin & Covishield. Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) wrote to us yesterday that they can't provide. They wrote 'we're making dispatches as per directives of concerned govt officials," said Sisodia.
The Delhi government will float a global tender for procuring coronavirus vaccines, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced Tuesday, while accusing 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 to be sold in India -- Covaxin, Coveshield and Sputnik V. Sputnik V has been approved to be imported from Russia by Dr Reddy's, but is yet to be widely available in the country.
Besides Delhi, the governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Tuesday joined several other states which have decided to issue global tenders for procurement of COVID vaccines as the domestic supply fails to keep up with the rising demand amid the fierce second wave of the pandemic.
(With inputs from agencies)