Moderna refuses direct vaccine supply to Punjab

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 23

Punjab’s efforts to float global tenders for direct procurement of vaccines for early inoculation in the state has hit a roadblock as the vaccine suppliers only deal with Government of India and not with the state government or any private party.

Sharing the information, senior bureaucrat Vikas Garg, who has been appointed the State Nodal Officer for Vaccination, said one of a Covid vaccine manufacturers ‘Moderna’ has refused to send vaccines directly to the Punjab Government as according to the company policy, it only dealt with the Government of India and not with any state government or private parties.

He said all vaccine manufacturers were approached for direct purchase of various Covid vaccines, including Sputnik V, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, as per the directions of the Chief Minister to explore the possibilities of floating a global tender for the procurement of vaccines from all possible sources to ensure early

inoculation in the state.

The reply was received from Moderna only in which the company refused to deal with the state government.

The state government has been forced to stop vaccination in phases 1 & 2 for the past three days because of the non-availability of vaccines. All efforts would be made for procurement of vaccines to meet the acute shortage in the state, which had received fewer than 44 lakh vaccine doses so far from the Government of India (GoI).

As per the GoI allocation for phase 3 (18-44 age group), the state government has been able to buy only 4.2 lakh vaccine doses, including 66,000 received yesterday. A total of 3.65 lakh doses had already been used, leaving only 64,000 for use as of now, said Garg.