Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to consider import of Covid-19 vaccines from international manufacturers on an urgent basis as the production and supply of vaccines in the country was inadequate to cover 140 crore people.
“You are kindly aware that as per experts, vaccination is now the real antidote to the prevailing Covid pandemic. It seems, however, that the production (and hence, the supply and distribution) of vaccines in the country is extremely inadequate, and insignificant in the context of the massive needs of the people at large,” the Bengal chief minister wrote.
She said about 10 crore people in Bengal and 140 crore people in the country needed to be administered with vaccines to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“Reports indicate that globally there are many manufacturers now. With the aid of scientists and exports, it is possible to identify the reputed and authentic manufacturers who have international reputation and credibility, and it is possible for us in the country to speedily import vaccines from those ends across the different parts of the world. I urge you to embark upon this endeavour without any further delay,” read the letter.
Mamata’s letter came at a time some states expressed desire to float global tenders to procure shots as supplies from two Indian manufacturers had been lagging behind the demand for jabs for the age group of 18 to 44 years.
“But the proposal from the Bengal chief minister is more logical as importing vaccines centrally would be a better idea,” said a senior Bengal government official.
Sources said the Centre had the back-up of the ICMR, which could guide which shots were right for the country.
They have said the chief minister knows administering vaccines to the people in Bengal would not solve the problem until the entire nation gets vaccinated.
“For example, the vaccine of Pfizer needs to be stored at -25 to -15 degrees Celsius, which is not possible in India because of scarcity of such cooling centres. In Bengal, there are 900 cooling centres to store vaccines but only four of them have the facility to store the vaccine in temperature below -15 degrees Celsius. That is why the ICMR can guide which vaccine could be useful in Indian conditions,” said a senior official.
Sources in the health department said that Mamata’s concern was genuine as the state could give vaccines about 1.3 crore people till now.
“Of them, only about 35 lakh people could be given the second dose. More importantly, the state could not start inoculation for the age group of 18 to 44 years for lack of vaccines. This is why the letter of the chief minister is important,” said an official.
Sources in the Trinamul Congress said the letter by the chief minister would put pressure on the Centre.
“It is the faulty policy of the Centre that has led to the vaccine crunch. Now, we cannot allow the Centre to run away from its responsibility. If we float global tenders, the Centre could wash its hands of the vaccination programme. But we won’t allow them to run away,” said a Bengal minister.
Mamata has also proposed that the international vaccine manufacturers be encouraged to start production in the country through franchises.
“Even the national players could be inspired to go for the franchisee mode for bulk production of vaccines. We, in West Bengal, are ready to provide land and support for any manufacturing/franchisee operation for authentic vaccine manufacturing,” the chief minister wrote.
The sources in the health department said they needed a steady supply of vaccines in the next few days to ensure a second dose of vaccines to lakhs of people who had been given the first dose.
“We are in regular touch with the Centre to ensure that people who have received the first dose can be given the second one on time,” said an official.
On Wednesday 4.8 lakh doses of vaccines reached the state, but officials said more supplies were required this week to continue with the second dose of vaccines.
