VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday directed senior officials to explore the possibility of inviting global tenders to get Covid vaccine in view of the limited supply of the vaccine from the Centre.Taking stock of Covid-19 situation in the State, vaccination and other measures taken to control and contain the virus spread, the Chief Minister said people should be clearly explained the facts and figures pertaining to Covid vaccine.
“Supply of vaccine doses to the States is completely coordinated by the Centre. How much the State receives and when is decided by it. Even the amount of the vaccines that the States are meant to procure directly from the vaccine producers is also determined by the Centre. Vaccine production and availability are in purview of the Centre and States have no say in the matter,” he said.
Taking objections to the remarks made by the Opposition leader and members, the Chief Minister said some vested interests and a section of media were propagating false information against the State government and creating fear among the people.He said it would take six months to complete vaccination process in the State provided that one crore vaccines were supplied per month. However, at present the State is receiving only 19 lakh vaccines per month.
During the daily briefing on Covid update, Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal said even if the State government was ready to make the entire cost of the vaccine upfront, the vaccine producing companies were not in a position to produce the required amount needed by the States. “In fact, the Centre is already on the job to ensure that the production capacity of those companies are ramped up to address the vaccine needs of the country,” he said. During the review meeting, Jagan said that ANMs and Asha workers should be clearly informed on vaccination details so that long queues could be avoided.