Mr Sisodia, at a virtual press meet, said Bharat Biotech has said it will not be able to supply vaccines to the capital citing directives of the government.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today alleged that Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech has refused to supply doses to the state “under instructions” from the central government, accusing the Centre of controlling the supply of Covid shots and of “vaccine mismanagement”. The company said it was “disheartening” that some states were complaining about its intentions.
Mr Sisodia, at a virtual press meet, said Bharat Biotech has said it will not be able to supply vaccines to the capital citing directives of the government and limited availability.
“The Covaxin manufacturer has, in a letter, said it cannot provide Delhi government vaccines due to unavailability, under instructions of the concerned government official. It means that the central government is controlling the supply of the vaccine,” he said.
Mr Sisodia said that the Delhi government had asked for 1.34 crore vaccine doses to vaccinate those between 18 and 44 – equal doses of Covaxin and Serum Institute of India’s Covishield. “They say that the Centre will decide who will get how much vaccine,” he told reporters.
The Delhi deputy CM also shared on Twitter the letter from Bharat Biotech chairman Krishna Ella responding to the Delhi government’s request on May 7.
Vaccine mismanagement by Centre Gov-
Covaxin refuses to supply vaccine citing directives of Gov. & limited availability.Once again I would say exporting 6.6cr doses was biggest mistake. We are forced to shutdown 100 covaxin-vaccination sites in 17 schools due to no supply pic.twitter.com/uFZSG0y4HM
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) May 12, 2021
“There has been an unprecedented demand for our vaccine and in spite of increasing production every month, we are unable to keep up with the demand. Further, we are making dispatches as per the directives of the concerned government, officials. We therefore sincerely regret that we cannot make any additional supplies as required by you,” the letter from Dr Ella says.
Bharat Biotech co-founder Suchitra Ella tweeted a counter to Mr Sisodia’s comments. “Covaxin dispatched 10/5/21.18 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 24×7 for you,” she tweeted.
Covaxin dispatched 10/5/21.18 states have been covered thou 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 24×7 for U pic.twitter.com/FmQl4vtqXC
— suchitra ella (@SuchitraElla) May 11, 2021
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