If the Indian government has paid the two vaccine organizations (Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech) for more vaccine doses, then why is the general stock of vaccines lowered and also the price of vaccinations declining? The ambitious vaccination drive that India embarked upon on 16 January this year gathered steam in early April touching about 4 million vaccinations a day. But in spite of India opening up the age limit and creating even these above 18 years eligible for the jab, the price of vaccination has slipped to 2.3 million doses a day. To place this quantity in context, the each day vaccine production by Serum Institute of India is 2.4 million doses and this is not such as the production by Bharat Biotech.
What is adding a layer of ambiguity is the availability of the total vaccine stocks. There is nevertheless no clarity on the actual vaccine stocks nevertheless offered with the central government as also its plans on the timeframe by when more stocks are to be procured and distributed.
It is not as if the organizations are not getting inventory. Serum for instance, TheSpuzz Online, learns, is carrying an inventory of about 40 to 50 million doses in distinct stages of good quality handle. Typically, just about every day 2.4 million doses are created by the firm and these take 28 days to comprehensive good quality handle tests and be released by the National Control laboratory.
But then, the last statement from the government on the vaccine stocks does not look to project a incredibly healthier image of the existing stocks offered. On Thursday, 6 May, the Indian government announced that considering the fact that the get started of the vaccination drive, the central government has supplied more than 171 million doses in all to the states and Union territories no cost of expense. As of 6 May, it says that more than 8.9 million (89 lakh) doses are nevertheless offered with the states/UTs. Furthermore, it says more than 2.8 million (28 lakh) vaccine doses would be made offered in addition to the states/UTs inside the next 3 days. That is 11.7 million doses for the states. This, going at the existing price of vaccination, is a stock that can get consumed in a matter of days.
The queries that hence come up is why is the government not sharing the road map on the vaccine availability following its big procurement plans? How this is to be dispensed to the states and by when? And what is the quantity of inventory it is carrying at the moment?
After all, on 3 May, the central government denying media reports that no orders had nevertheless been made to procure more vaccine doses, “clarified that one hundred per cent advance of Rs. 1,732.50 crore was released to Serum Institute of India (SII) on 28 April for 110 million (11 crore) doses of Covishield vaccine for the duration of May, June and July and that as against the earlier order of one hundred million (10 crore) doses for supplies of Covishield vaccine, 87 million (8.74 crore) doses had been delivered till 3 May. According to sources in Serum, the balance is to be supplied in the coming week. In addition, the government had also announced that “100 per cent advance of Rs. 787.50 crore was also released on 28 April 28 to Bharat Biotech India Ltd (BBIL) for 50 million (5 crore) Covaxin doses for the duration of May, June and July and that as on 3 May, as against the earlier order of 20 million (2 crore) doses, about 8.8 million (88 lakh) doses of Covaxin had been supplied.