Delhi, The National capital faces a shortage of Covaxin. The Delhi government after getting rejection from Bharat Biotech to supply vaccine, urges The Serum Institue for the same.
The Delhi government wrote to the Serum Institute of India (SII) asking it to “come to its rescue”, saying it has restricted stock of Covishield for 18 to 44 years which will finish up in a week.
Answering to this, the SII said they are doing their most to satisfy countrywide vaccine requirements, official sources said.
In the letter to the SII, Director of Family Welfare, Delhi Government, Dr. Monika Rana stated, “We rely on your support for the provision of sufficient quantities of vaccine in a time-bound manner.”
“Delhi has a limited stock of Covishield for 18 to 44 years which will finish in one week and vaccination centres will have to be closed due to non-availability of vaccines,” she told.
“In order to prevent this, you are requested to come to our rescue and provide for more vaccine immediately,” the letter stated.
Delhi is facing a harsh crisis and timely vaccination of all the eligible receivers will help control the pandemic, Dr. Rana said.
As per the official sources in answer to her letter, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government, and Regulatory Affairs at Serum Institute of India said, “We fully understand your concern and assure you once again of our best efforts to meet the Delhi and countrywide vaccine requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Under the leadership of our CEO, Adar C Poonawalla, the company has been working tirelessly to produce Covishield and is committed to further ramping up the production to its maximum rated capacity incoming 2-3 months to meet the COVID-19 vaccine needs of our country,” Singh stated in his letter.
“We are working to our best possible potential 24X7 to fulfill the Government of India, state governments, Union territories, and private hospitals’ vaccine requirements countrywide and are following Government of India’s directions in this regard,” he added.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over vaccine shortage. He stated that the Centre should share the vaccine formula of the two manufacturers with other capable pharmaceutical companies to boost the production in the country.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech has rejected to give “additional” vaccine doses to the Delhi government, a development that is likely to severely hinder the vaccination drive for people in the 18-44 age group.
The Delhi government had requested 67 lakh doses each of Covishield and Covaxin on April 26.
Atishi, leader from AAP also said Delhi received 2.67 lakh more doses of Covishield vaccine on May 11, but it is now running out of vaccines.
All centers administering Covaxin will be closed after Wednesday evening, she said.
Only 4.18 lakh Covishield doses are remaining for people in the 18-44 age group. These can be used till nine days, according to a government analysis.
A total of 41.64 lakh doses were delivered to beneficiaries across all categories in Delhi till Wednesday morning since the vaccination drive started on January 16.
Delhi has got 8.17 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines till now for the 18-44 years category. Over 43 lakh vaccines were received for 45-plus, healthcare and frontline workers.
