Moderna refuses to send jabs directly, says Punjab
State claims US firm denied supply saying its policy allows it to take such requests only from the Centre
CHANDIGARH: US pharmaceutical company Moderna has refused to supply its Covid vaccine directly to Punjab, saying that its policy allows it to entertain such requests only from the government of India, a senior state official said on Sunday.
The development came after the Amarinder Singh government reached out to several manufacturers, including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Gamaleya (maker of Sputnik-v), for direct purchase, said state nodal officer for vaccination Vikas Garg.
The state government said last week that it has storage space for 3.5 million Sputnik-v vaccines, which requires temperature of -18 degrees Celsius. But so far, only Moderna has replied to the request, Garg said. The company’s vaccine has so far inoculated over 90 million people. Moderna could not be reached for comments.
Earlier, the Punjab government approached Covax, the global vaccine sharing programme, but was told that it would not directly deal with the state, Garg said.
The Punjab government has said that it has so far received 4.4 million vaccine doses from the Centre, and the first dose has been administered to 3.66 million people while 730,000 have received the second shot. But due to the non-availability of jabs, the state has had to stop phases 1 (above 60 years) and 2 (above 45 years) of its vaccination programme in the last three days.
“We are seeking more vaccines from the Centre. They will also advise how to deal with such manufacturers who directly deal with the Centre,” said Garg.
Punjab had a tepid response to the programme as not many people turned up for vaccination in the early days. But the brutality of the second wave triggered panic, leading to rush at vaccination centres, especially in rural areas. Punjab registered nearly 5,300 fresh Covid cases and 201 deaths on Saturday, taking the death toll in the state to over 13,000.