As the shortage of vaccines makes India's Covid-19 fight harder, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said that the national capital has exausted its stock of Covaxin and has had to shut centres owing to the shortage of Covaxin, which he alleged was not being supplied to the UT citing 'government directives'.
Sisodia said that Covaxin manufacturers, Bharat Biotech, wrote to the Delhi government that they are making dispatches according to directives of concerned government officers and cannot provide to Delhi because they have to supply as per Central Government norms.
"We had demanded 1.34 crore doses, 67 lakhs each of Covaxin and Covishield. Covaxin makers wrote to us yesterday that they can't provide it jabs. They wrote 'we're making dispatches as per directives of concerned government officials'. Obvious that these are central government official," Sisodia was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
He urged the Centre to understand the severity of the situation, stop vaccine exports.
The stock of Covaxin in Delhi has finished and as a result around 100 vaccination centres set up in 17 schools have been closed, he said.
"The Covaxin manufacturer has in a letter said that it can not provide Delhi government vaccines due to unavailability, under instruction of concerned government official. It means that the central government is controlling supply of the vaccine," Sisodia said.
The deputy chief minister said the Centre should stop the export of vaccines and share the vaccine formulae of the two manufacturers in the country with other companies for mass-scale production.
He also requested the Union government to approve vaccines available in the international market for use in India, and direct states to vaccinate everyone within three months.
Published 12 May 2021, 07:19 IST