Delhi govt to procure 67 lakh Covishield doses from Serum Institute, 3 lakh shots to be delivered by May 3

New Delhi, Apr 29 : The Delhi government will procure 67 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine from Serum Institute of India and the first tranche of three lakh doses will be delivered by May 3, official sources said on Thursday.

The Delhi government has also sought a supply schedule from the manufacturer for the remaining doses which are to be delivered over the next three months.

An official source said a purchase order has been issued in the name of Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII).

"The manufacturer must submit a government testing laboratory - Batch release certificate for every batch of vaccine at the time of delivery. In case of failure on part of the supplier to furnish such report, the batch of vaccines will not be accepted," the purchase order read.

It also said samples of supplies from each batch may be chosen at the point of supply or distribution storage points for testing and sent to empanelled laboratories or Government Drugs Testing Laboratory.

"The supplies will be deemed to be completed only upon receipt of the quality certificates from the laboratories. Samples which do not meet quality requirement shall render the relevant batches liable to be rejected," it said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday that a plan had been formulated to vaccinate all adults against coronavirus within the next three months.

He said vaccination centres would be set up on a large scale and those eligible must come forward to take the jab.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said Delhi "does not have vaccine" doses for the inoculation of people in the age group of 18 to 44 years and purchase orders have been placed with manufacturers for the same.

The minister, however, said preparations to give jabs to this category have been completed.

"At present, we don''t have vaccine. We have requested the companies to provide it," Jain told reporters when asked if there were enough vaccine available for the 18-44 age group.

"We will tell you in a day or two," he replied in response to a query about starting the inoculation drive for this category on May 1. Jain also said the manufacturers are yet to provide a schedule of vaccine supply to the city government.

Kejriwal had on Monday said everybody aged above 18 would be administered COVID-19 vaccines free of cost in Delhi. He had said his government had approved the procurement of 1.34 crore vaccine doses from various manufacturers.

A government official had on Wednesday told PTI that inoculation of the 18-44 age group is likely to have a moderate start and will be ramped up gradually.

The vaccine will be delivered to the Delhi government in phases and private hospitals will have to procure vaccines directly from manufacturers, he had said.

The Centre will continue to provide vaccine for those aged above 45.

Asked if more vaccine centres will be added considering the increased number of beneficiaries, the official had said, "A little bit expansion might be done, but by and large the number will remain the same."

At present, jabs are being given at around 500 centres in the national capital.