No company responded to Uttarakhand govt's global tender for COVID-19 vaccines procurement

DEHRADUN: No company has, so far, responded to the global tender floated by the state government to procure COVID-19 vaccines, the Uttarakhand government informed on Tuesday.

"So far, no company has responded to the global tender for COVID19 vaccines procurement by the state government. The time for submission of interest for tender has been extended till May 31 May", informed an official statement by State Health Department.

The Uttarakhand government on May 15 floated a global tender for procurement of COVID-19 vaccine to vaccinate people in the state.

Amid the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines supply, the Uttarakhand Government on May 11 constituted a 5-member committee that aimed to work towards procuring vaccines through global tenders.

"It has become necessary to vaccinate the people of the state immediately against COVID-19 in order to contain the outbreak. Considering the shortage of Covishield and Covaxin, a committee has been formed to import these vaccines like Sputnik V from different countries. The committee will work towards procuring vaccines through global tenders", the state government order had informed.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand reported 3,194 fresh COVID-19 cases, 6,173 discharges and 71 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health bulletin on Monday. To curb the number of Covid-19 cases, the government has imposed a lockdown in the state till June 1.