'Will deal only with Centre': Moderna refuses Punjab's vaccine request

New Delhi, May 23: Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna Inc has declined the Punjab government's request for direct supply of doses, saying will only deal with the Centre.

"One of a Covid vaccine manufacturer Moderna has refused to send direct vaccination to Punjab government as according to their policy, they only deal with Government of India and not with any state government or private parties," said a statement issued by Punjab's Information and Public Relations Department.

Earlier, CM Amarinder Singh had directed officials to explore possibilities of floating a global tender for the procurement of vaccines from all possible sources to ensure that people of the state are vaccinated against COVID-19 at the earliest.

Notably, Punjab was forced to stop vaccination for phase 1 and phase 2 categories because of the non-availability of vaccine doses.

All efforts would be made for the procurement of vaccines to meet the acute shortage in the state, which had received fewer than 44 lakh vaccine doses so far from the government of India, the statement said.

From the government of India's allocation for phase 3 (18-44 age group), the state government has been able to buy only 4.2 lakh vaccine doses, including 66,000 received on Saturday.

A total of 3.65 lakh have already been used and only 64,000 are left.