Ahead of the hearing on June 30, the Centre has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court claiming that it aims to receive deliveries of 186-188 crore vaccine doses by end of 2021 to inoculate the entire eligible population of 93-94 crore people above the age of 18 years.
In its 380-page affidavit with many documents on the vaccination policy and guidelines and procedures, the Centre said it changed its policy on June 7 after considering the request of 13 Chief Ministers. Out of the 186-188 crore doses, 51.6 crore doses would be made available by July 31 and rest of the 135 crore Covid vaccine doses will be made available between August and December 2021, said the estimation given to the apex court, which earlier came down heavily on the Centre’s “arbitrary” vaccination policy.
As per the affidavit, the purchase from August onwards will be 50 crore Covishield, 40 crore Covaxin, and 10 crore Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Another 30 crore will be Bio E Sub unit vaccine while 5 crore will be Zydus Cadila DNA vaccine, the affidavit filed by the Government said. However, both these vaccines are yet to get the approval. The Centre said that the approval will happen in near future. The affidavit also said that between January 2021 and July 31, 2021, 51.6 crore vaccine doses will be available.
The Centre also said that vaccination will get a boost when its attempts to procure vaccine brands like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna etc from abroad materialises. “Efforts are at an advanced stage. It is neither desirable nor possible to give comprehensive details of these facts,” it said.
Giving details of expenditure for purchase of vaccines, the Centre said that around 5803 crore ( exact figure Rs.5802.825 crore) would be spent purchasing Covishield and Covaxin till July 2021 stock.
In the first lot from January, Covishield was purchased for Rs.200 +GST per dose and Covaxin was purchased Rs.295 + GST per dose. Later from March, both vaccines were purchased at Rs.150 + GST per dose. Though price was not mentioned, Centre said that 31.5 lakh doses of
Sputink have been received as on date.
The Centre said it changed the vaccination strategy on June 7 following requests from 13 Chief Ministers and several Health Ministers highlighting problems faced by the States in obtaining vaccines. The Centre justified the role of including private hospitals in the vaccination saying that the tie-up with private players will enlarge the scope of vaccination to prevent Covid pandemic.
To the question of the apex court on the digital divide and non-practical nature of Cowin App registration remote areas, the Centre said that now walk-in-registration has started by establishing vaccination camps across the country but door to door vaccination is not planned as there would be problems in monitoring the vaccine recipients for some time after vaccination.
The Centre said that near-to- home vaccination by establishing vaccination centres with walk-in-registration is practical than a door-to-door vaccination policy.