Covid-19 crisis: Punjab says Moderna refused to send vaccines directly

Punjab looking to procure Covid-19 shots to combat a nationwide surge in infections on Sunday said US vaccine maker Moderna had declined to supply its shots and said it can only deal with the federal government.

The central government opened vaccinations to all adults from May 1 and allowed states to make their own arrangements to supplement stocks they received from it. But the country is facing a shortage of vaccines, with domestic production amounting to about 80 million doses a month.

Punjab said Moderna “refused” to send vaccines to the state government, citing a company policy that allows it to deal only with federal administration and not with state authorities or private parties.

Moderna did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Punjab, with a population of more than 27 million, has had to stop vaccination for some categories of eligible people because of non-availability of shots, having received only about 4.4 million doses from the federal government, the statement said.

In the statement, Punjab official Vikas Garg said that the state government had also made approaches regarding the Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik vaccines but has yet to receive any response.

Some other states, including Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, have said they also have insufficient supplies to inoculate those aged between 18 and 44.

The world’s largest vaccine-producing nation has fully vaccinated a little more than 41.6 million people, or only 3.8 per cent of its 1.35 billion population.

The country's output of Covid-19 shots for August-December is likely to be lower than the government’s official estimate, according to internal projections shared with Reuters by two sources.