Delhi govt to procure 6.7 mn Covishield doses from Serum Institute

The Delhi government will procure 6.7 million doses of Covishield vaccine from Serum Institute of India and the first tranche of 300,000 shots will be delivered by May 3, official sources said on Thursday.

The Delhi government has also sought a supply schedule from the manufacturer for the remaining doses which are to be delivered over the next three months.

An official source said a purchase order has been issued in the name of Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII).

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday that a plan has been formulated to vaccinate all adults against coronavirus within the next three months.

He said vaccination centres would be set up on a large scale and those eligible must come forward to take the jab.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the city "does not have vaccine" doses for inoculating people in the 18-44 age group and purchase orders have been placed with manufacturers for the same.

The minister, however, said preparations to give jabs to people in this category have been completed.

"At present, we don't have vaccine. We have requested the companies to provide it," Jain told reporters when asked if there were enough vaccine available for the 18-44 age group.

"We will tell you in a day or two," he replied to another query about starting the inoculation drive for this category on May 1. The minister also said the manufacturers are yet to provide schedules of vaccine supply to the Delhi government.

Kejriwal had on Monday said everybody aged above 18 would be administered COVID-19 vaccines free of cost in Delhi.

He had said his government had approved the procurement of 1.34 crore vaccine doses from various manufacturers.