Vaccination in UP: Yogi govt relaxes conditions in global tenders; paves way for Pfizer, Moderna & others

New Delhi: Yogi Government in Uttar Pradesh is all set to accelerate its vaccination drive with greater availability of Covid vaccines in the state soon. Health Department has halved the global tender earnest money deposit amount and also announced major relaxations in its terms and conditions in order to widen the scope of suppliers joining to increase the supply of vaccines in UP, which is already number one in the country in terms of vaccination doses to its citizen.

The decision has been taken to increase the pace of vaccination in UP. It will allow several global vaccine companies, including Pfizer and Moderna among others, to participate and provide vaccines for UP, increasing the availability of vaccines in the state. The decision of the Yogi Government will also give more options to the people to choose their preferred vaccine.

It is worth mentioning here that the Yogi Government issued a global tender to purchase Covid-19 vaccines on May 7 in order to enhance its availability in the state and carry out the vaccination drive on war-footing. The Government had earlier fixed the Earnest money amount for the global tender at Rs 16 crore.

Terms and conditions were also fixed regarding the temperature and storage of the vaccine in the tender. On May 12, a pre bid meeting with representatives of the vaccine manufacturers to discuss the tender process. Representatives of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech attended the meeting.

After discussions with representatives of the companies, the Government announced many relaxations in the terms and conditions of the global tender.

The Government plans to involve more companies in the tender in order to increase supply of vaccines in the state, speed up vaccination and provide more vaccine options to the people.

The Government has reduced the tender amount of global tender from Rs 16 crore to Rs 8 crore. The condition of vaccine storage at 2 to 8 degree Celsius temperature has also been relaxed. Thus, manufacturers of vaccines that can be stored at temperatures ranging from -20 to -80 degrees Celsius will also be able to participate in the tender. This has cleared the way for companies such as Pfizer and Moderna to join the tender. Companies will have to safely transport Covid-19 vaccines to the government warehouse. Companies will also have to make arrangements for storage of vaccines at -20 to -80 degrees Celsius.

Centre’s nod a must for companies from neighbouring countries including China

Companies from neighboring countries, including China, will have to get the approval of the Central Government to join the global tender for Covid-19 vaccine. It is noteworthy that on July 23, 2020, the Ministry of Finance had made the rules for the supply of Covid vaccines from neighboring countries. Companies would be required to register with the prescribed authority of the Central Government for vaccine supply.