'Bharat Biotech stops Covaxin supply on Centre's directives'
New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech had refused to provide "additional" vaccine doses to the Delhi government for those between 18 and 44 years of age, citing that it was doing so as per directives of the concerned government officials.
While Bharat Biotech said it was disappointed with some states making such remarks, this development is expected to further hamper the vaccination drive in the Capital for those between the ages of 18 and 44, with officials already having to close nearly 100 Covaxin centres for lack of stocks.
"The Covaxin manufacturer has in a letter said that it cannot provide the Delhi government vaccines due to unavailability, under instruction of government officials concerned. It means that the central government is controlling supply of the vaccine," Sisodia said.
However, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal on Tuesday denied that the Centre had any role to play in the purchase of vaccines by the states.
Sisodia accused the Centre of vaccine mismanagement and reiterated that exporting 6.5 crore doses to foreign countries was the "biggest mistake". The Delhi government had ordered 67 lakh doses each of Covishield and Covaxin on April 26, the deputy chief minister said.
According to the Delhi government figures, it has received 1.5 lakh Covaxin and 4 lakh Covishield doses so far to vaccinate people in the 18-44 age group.
Till now, a total of 48.7 lakh doses of both the vaccines have been received for various categories of beneficiaries, it showed.
"I had already said exporting 6.5 crore doses to foreign countries was the biggest mistake. It would have been sufficient to vaccinate everyone in Delhi and Mumbai with two doses each," Sisodia added.
During the online briefing, he read the letter received from Bharat Biotech, which said "...we are making dispatches as per the directions of the government officials concerned. We therefore sincerely regret that we cannot make any additional supplies as required by you".
The letter written by Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Dr Krishna Ella, on May 11, to the Delhi government's principal secretary (health and family welfare) also mentioned the "unprecedented demand" for Covaxin.
Bharat Biotech's letter referred to another note written to it by the Delhi government on May 7 regarding the supply of Covaxin.
The deputy chief minister also said that the Centre should stop the export of vaccines and share the vaccine formulae of the two manufacturers in the country with other companies for mass-scale production.
He also urged the Union government to approve vaccines available in the international market for use in India, and direct states to vaccinate everyone within three months.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said Bharat Biotech's letter cited by Sisodia has "exposed" his claim that the city government ordered 67 lakh Covaxin doses on April 26.
"The reality is they wrote letter of intent to Bharat Biotech on April 26. Sisodia should disclose what the Delhi government wrote to Bharat Biotech in its May 7 letter," he said.
Significantly, after the public charge from the Delhi government, Bharat Biotech Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella said the company has already dispatched Covaxin lots to 18 states on May 10.
"18 states have been covered though in smaller shipments. Quite disheartening to the teams to hear some states complaining about our intentions. 50 of our employees are off work due to covid, yet we continue to work under pandemic lockdowns 24x7 for U," she said in a tweet.
