(Image source from: indiatoday.in)

There is a huge scarcity in vaccinations in India and the mass vaccination process is kept on hold. The vaccination centers are shut because of the shortage of vaccines. The states announced and invited global tenders to meet the shortage but the global drug majors are not ready to deal with the states directly. The global drug makers are likely to deal directly with the Centre instead of the states and the private entities. Moderna, the Massachusetts-based vaccination declined the request of the Punjab government for the direct supply of the vaccination to the state. The company announced that they would deal with the Central governments of the countries and not with firms or states.

Moderna also announced that they will have no extra doses to supply for other countries this year. Pfizer too had similar plans and it will not deal with the states. Though Pfizer was in talks with the Indian government, it was not approved initially. Now the Centre is in talks with the pharma giant to offer further doses for the country to meet the crisis. Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India are in plans for mass production and it would take a while for the doses to reach the Indian market. The requests of the several Indian states are now left in pending as per the guidelines of the pharmaceutical firms. Considering the current situation, the crisis and shortage of coronavirus vaccines would continue in India.

By Siva Kumar