The Maharashtra government, along with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), seem to be in a bit of a dilemma as both Moderna and Pfizer have stated that they will only deal with the Centre, further denying authorizing an agent to market their COVID-19 vaccine in India.
This comes after the eight intermediaries claimed tie-ups with the two, AstraZeneca and the maker of Sputnik have responded to its 5 crores global tender. Moreover, the state government has sought out clarity from the Centre with regards to whether they can engage with the bidders. In addition, the BMC is also reportedly facing the tough task of verifying the bidders, most of them based in foreign countries.
However, earlier on Wednesday, May 26, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had announced that Mumbai received eight bids so far including one from Pfizer and seven from Sputnik.
This development comes as the civic body had earlier on May 12 floated global tenders to buy vaccines for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope also while commenting on the issue of global tenders to procure the vaccines told the media that the state government has got a response from few companies, including Pfizer, Sputnik and AstraZeneca.
On the other hand, in order to tackle the surge in coronavirus cases, several states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, too have floated a global tender for jabs. However, other states like West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Punjab, are yet to take a call on floating global tender for vaccines.
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