Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Tuesday, 25 May, that a total of eight bids have been received till now, in response to the civic body's Global Expression of Interest for the procurement of 1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses.
"One bid is for Pfizer/AstraZeneca and remaining seven bids are for Sputnik. The time period has been extended by one week till 1 June 2021 to enable the various bidders to submit complete set of documents in support of the bids as prescribed under MCGM’s Global Expression of Interest. Any additional bid shall also be entertained," Chahal said.
Mumbai had issued a global tender earlier this month for the purchase of vaccines to ramp up the city's immunisation drive.
This came as the city, like the rest of the country, reels under an acute shortage of vaccine doses amid the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, in Punjab and Delhi, US pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna have refused to supply COVID-19 vaccines directly, saying they don’t supply directly to states and will deal only with the Government of India.
Mumbai on Tuesday reported 1,037 new coronavirus cases and 37 deaths, taking the tally in the city to 6,99,904 and the death toll to 14,708.
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