Authorities in India’s financial hub Mumbai are seeking to import millions of vaccine doses to help avert a third potential coronavirus wave. The municipal corporation is in talks with the state government to allow it to invite bids from global manufacturers, Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said in an interview Monday. “The state government tender might be very huge, like 40 million, and no foreign supplier can match that kind of number, but if I just float 5 million vaccines, bids may come up from two-three companies,” he said. “I am working on that and it’s a matter of days that we will finalize something.”
Amidst Shiv Sena s onslaught PM lauds Maha CM s Covid efforts
Sat, May 8 2021 17:57 IST |
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Image Source: IANS). Image Source: IANS
Mumbai, May 8 : In a significant development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called up Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to get an overview of Maharashtra s war against the Coronavirus, an official said.
During the conversation, the PM lauded Thackeray s efforts and observed that the state has put up a good fight during the ongoing second wave of Covid-19, even as the Shiv Sena slammed Modi for the manner in which the Coronavirus crisis has been handled at the national level.
PM Narendra Modi lauds Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray's COVID efforts - Uddhav Thackeray has also urged PM Narendra Modi to permit states to launch their own App to handle the COVID-19 vaccinations.
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New Delhi: Domestic pressure, coupled with a severe shortage, has brought India’s Covid-19 vaccine diplomacy Vaccine Maitri to a screeching halt, but neighbouring countries are now urging New Delhi to at least free up their commercial vaccine shipments in order to prevent the outbreak of second and third waves of Covid-19 there, ThePrint has learnt.
Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, while India had gifted the Serum Institute of India (SII)-manufactured Covishield vaccines to its friends in the neighbourhood, countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have also bought millions of doses from the vaccine maker directly.
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The situation, at a point, had gotten so bad that several people had surrounded Poonawalla’s company multiple times, and accused him of profiting from the COVID-19 vaccines, he said.
In April, the institute put a price tag on the supply of domestic vaccine Covishield, charging private hospitals Rs.600 (C$9.94) per vaccine dose supply and government and state hospitals Rs. 400 per dose supply (C$ 6.63).
“Everything falls on my shoulders, but I can’t do it alone…I don’t want to be in a situation where you are just trying to do your job, and just because you can’t supply the needs of X, Y or Z, you really don’t want to guess what they are going to do,” Poonawalla told The Times.