The Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government on Thursday decided to join the COVAX alliance for the global sourcing and procurement of Covid vaccines at the best price to address the problem of vaccine shortage in the state.
Reviewing the vaccination status and availability in the state, the cabinet decided to make an attempt to join COVAX for procuring vaccines from international markets at best prices. The suggestion to join the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX, was given to the cabinet by Dr Gagandeep Kang, who heads the Punjab Expert Group on Vaccination.
The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting, which also approved the purchase of Covaxin for industrial workers, for whose vaccination the industry has expressed willingness to pay. The state government has so far ordered only Covishield for the 18-44 age group, but with this decision, the decks have been cleared to place orders for Covaxin too.
In a brief presentation, Health Secretary Hussan Lal informed the cabinet that of the 30 lakh Covishield doses ordered by the state government, the Serum Institute of India had so far confirmed 4.29 lakh, of which 1 lakh doses had been received. He further disclosed that some Central government institutions and industrial establishments were requesting early vaccination for their work force. Given the shortage of vaccines, he pointed out that certain states were floating global tenders to import the same.
The Health Secretary further apprised the cabinet that for the 45+ age group, the last tranche of Covishield (1,63,710 doses) was received on May 9, taking the total to 42,48, 560. As many as 3,45,000 doses were given to the armed forces, while the total vaccination utilization stood at 39,03,560. For Covaxin in the 45+ category, the last tranche received was of 75,000 doses (6 May 2021), taking the total received to 4,09,080, of which utilization till date is 3,52,080, leaving only 57,000 available now.