VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday wanted CMs of all the States to speak in a single voice and urge the Centre to take charge and responsibility of Covid-19 vaccination drive in the entire country. “As the situation has now transformed into States versus Union, we as CMs shall speak in one voice and ensure that India overcomes this pandemic,’’ Jagan said, in a letter written to his counterparts in other States.He sent the letter to his counterparts in the wake of the State government’s bid to procure vaccine through global tenders drew a blank. The government floated global tenders on May 13 for procuring vaccines directly from manufacturers to vaccinate one crore people in the State.
Stating that the sharpest weapon against Covid-19 is vaccine and India’s vaccination drive has to be even faster, a fact pointed out by several experts, Jagan in his letter said, “We (Andhra Pradesh) had gone for a global tender in order to procure vaccines directly in line with our commitment to vaccinate everybody free of cost. The last date for submission of bids was June 3 (Thursday), but to my dismay, no one quoted and the reasons being the situation now getting transformed into States versus Union and so on and so forth. The situation is no longer in our control as far as procurement of vaccines is concerned.’’
Jagan further added that the vaccine drive is plagued by multiple coordination issues and some States are feeling that they are not getting enough (vaccines) and the global tenders floated by States are not getting the desired response. “Any delay in vaccinating the people would come at a heavy price,’’ he warned.“It is my request that as Chief Ministers, we speak in a single voice and urge the Centre to take charge and responsibility of the vaccination drive, the way it was happening in the early part of the year,’’ Jagan said.
He said, “The vaccination was completed on time and this decision ensured that our frontline workers and medical professionals could be fighting the virus when at the peak of the second wave.’’The Chief Minister further stated that while there remains to be so many supply constraints in vaccine production, the decision to give the States a larger say in the vaccine procurement was something that was unwarranted. “The fact remains that the last month-and-a-half has made us realise the challenges of this drive. It has also led to a significant deviation of resources from augmenting healthcare capacities in our respective States,’’ Jagan said.
He stressed that the need of the hour is to increase Covid-19 vaccine availability, be it through any source. “A centralised and coordinated vaccination, supported by the States will yield wonderful results for the people of India,” Jagan said and urged the Chief Ministers of all the States to lend their support to the cause and speak in one voice.Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh was given only 4.21 per cent of Covid-19 vaccines allocated by the Centre to States.
Arja Srikanth, AP Nodal Officer for Covid-19, in a tweet on Wednesday said the Centre had allocated only 4.21 per cent of vaccines to the State, while Maharashtra was given 9.72 per cent, Rajasthan 8.03 per cent and Gujarat 7.63 per cent. When it comes to southern States, Srikanth said Telangana was given 2.82 per cent, Tamil Nadu 4.06 per cent, Karnataka 5.98 per cent and Kerala 4.24 per cent of vaccines.
AP to extend time for vaccine bids As none of the firms have filed a bid yet
Explaining the reasons as to why Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has to write to his counterparts on vaccination, Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal said the situation (lack of bids for global tenders to procure vaccine) is similar to nine other States, which have also floated global tenders. “States like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha also did not receive any bids. Karnataka had to cancel the global tenders due to lack of bids while Uttar Pradesh extended the deadline till June 10,” Singhal said. When the State government held pre-bid meeting on May 20, representatives from three companies turned up, which gave them some hope. “However, no one filed a bid,’’ Singhal said. As per norms, we have decided to extend the time for filing bids by two weeks,” Singhal said.
Positivity rate, active caseload decline
The State has recorded 49% decline in positivity rate in the last 15 days, while the number of active Covid cases has come down to 32%. The recovery rate has also gone up to 90.98% from 84.32%
Positivity rate
May 16 25.56%
June 02 13.02%