Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday, 12 May, alleged vaccine mismanagement by the central government, pointing out that Bharat Biotech has expressed inability to supply its vaccine – Covaxin – to the Delhi government.
Those under the age of 45 won't get shots of Covaxin in the national capital from 13 May, owing to limited stocks left for the next four days, the AAP government has said. Stocks of the other coronavirus vaccine, Covishield, is expected last nine days.
Sharing a letter by Bharat Biotech's chairperson Dr Krishna Ella to the Delhi government, Sisodia said in a tweet, "Vaccine mismanagement by Centre Gov– Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) refuses to supply vaccine citing directives of Gov. and limited availability. Once again I would say exporting 6.6cr doses was biggest mistake. We are forced to shut down 100 Covaxin-vaccination sites in 17 schools due to no supply."
What Did Sisodia Say?
In a press conference on the same issue on Wednesday, Sisodia said Delhi had demanded 1.34 crore doses – 67 lakh each of Covaxin and Covishield.
"Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) wrote to us yesterday that they can't provide. They wrote, 'We're making dispatches as per the directives of the concerned government officials.' (It is) obvious that these are central government officials. They further wrote, 'We therefore sincerely regret that we cannot make any additional supplies as required by you.' I don't know how much is being supplied to other states but they've written to us that they can't provide to Delhi because they have to supply as per the central government," he alleged.
Sisodia pointed out that while the centres administering Serum Institute's Covishield are functioning, the ones giving Covaxin have had to be shut down. "Our reserve stock is exhausted," he was quoted as saying.
“The Centre should act as the government of a country. They should carry out their responsibility and stop all exports.”Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, as quoted by ANI
Vaccine Drives Fails to Pick Up Momentum
The deputy CM also appealed to the Centre to share the vaccine formula with other manufacturers, echoing CM Arvind Kejriwal's call on Tuesday, and approve vaccines available in the international market for use in the country.
Delhi is among the various states and Union territories that have been reporting large shortages of vaccine stocks, as India's inoculation drive fails to gather momentum amid the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the Centre had allowed all adults to be vaccinated from 1 May, people across the country have found it difficult to get slots on the CoWin portal due to the shortage of doses.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)
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