State govt plans to approach SC for uniform pricing of vaccines
Officials say the state govt has urged Centre to float global tenders for Covid-19 vaccines; state can bear the expenditure
After West Bengal, the Rajasthan government is planning to approach the Supreme Court seeking a new policy that ensures uniform pricing and distribution for Covid-19 vaccines.
Officials said the vaccination programme in Rajasthan is going on at a snail’s pace due to the shortage of vaccines. Of the 80 million eligible people in the state, only 10.26 million have been administered with the first dose of vaccination and 3.12 million with the second dose. To speed up the vaccination, the state has called for global tenders to procure 10 million vaccine doses.
A senior official familiar with the developments said the second wave of Covid-19 has compelled many states, including Rajasthan, to consider global procurement of vaccine to augment the crippling shortage of vaccines.
“The state government has urged GOI (Government of India) to float global tenders for Covid-19 vaccines. The state can bear the expenditure, but tender should be by GOI. The centre can negotiate for a uniform rate, and check credentials and credibility of the vendors,” he said.
“Above all, there will be competition among the states with different pricings. The vendors participating in the global tenders are quoting more than double the price of vaccine currently procured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) – Rs 300 per dose plus GST,” he said.
The West Bengal government has approached the Supreme Court seeking a uniform vaccination policy. “The Rajasthan government too is considering approaching the Apex Court on same lines, urging to ask GOI for holding global tender for states and uniform pricing of vaccine,” he said.
He said the vaccine manufacturers SII and Bharat Biotech are charging Rs 150 per dose from GOI, and Rs 300 and Rs 400 per vaccine shot from states. The pricing of vaccine should be capped uniform at Rs 150, he added.
The state government has decided free vaccination to the people in 18-44 years age group by spending about Rs 3,000 crore from its own resources. The state has ordered 30.75 million doses to SII, which is struggling with the huge demand for vaccines from states.
The official said that global tenders for the vaccine were opened two days back and six to eight firms participated. Their papers are being scrutinised and some have been asked to provide additional documents, he said.
In Rajasthan, over 5.3 million people in the 60 plus age group have been vaccinated, of which only 1.6 million have received the second dose. Similar is the situation of 45-59 age category population – over 5 million have been given the first dose and 748,000 lakh the second dose. Over 1.2 million in 18-44 age group have also been vaccinated. JAIPUR: