Why don’t you import unused vaccine: KTR to Centre

HYDERABAD: Telangana IT and MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao on Friday questioned the Centre as to why they were not importing vaccines from countries where they were in surplus.“To my knowledge, there are at least four countries — the US, Canada, Norway and Denmark — where at least 50 crore doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are lying unused. The US alone has nearly 25 crore doses. Why is the Centre not importing vaccines for the Indian population from them?” he questioned.

Rama Rao was speaking on Friday at the inauguration of 150 ICU beds in Telangana Institute of Medical Science (TIMS), which have been set up using CSR funds of 5 IT firms — Qualcomm, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Cognizant and Franklin Templeton.

“The Centre has had a very flawed policy on vaccines. First, it made a mistake by not placing orders when vaccines were needed, and instead sent them to other countries. Now, when we have to vaccinate a population of 132 crore, we don’t even have 25 per cent of the required doses.