Malta Firm Ready To Supply 60 Million Doses of Sputnik V: Haryana

A firm in Malta said that they would like to supply the Sputnik V vaccine to India but there has been no official contract signed over it.

Owing to the Covid crisis in India, a company in Malta has shown interest in providing up to 60 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to Haryana. The state government confirmed the news and shared that they are ready to supply the vaccine directly.

Pharma Regulatory Services Ltd showed their interest in supplying the vaccine but there has been no official contract signed yet. The vaccine can be acquired at ₹ 1,120 per dose.

The state government released a statement in which they shared that, “As per the offer from the firm, per dose, it will cost us nearly, ₹ 1,120. The firm has also given a timeline of 30 days to supply the very first batch consisting of 5 lakh doses, with 1 million doses supplied every 20 days till the target is completed. A letter of credit will be issued in their name.”

Haryana Additional Chief Secretary of Health Rajeev Arora said that their main aim is to ensure that the supply goes smoothly in the state.

The Haryana Medical Services Corporation Ltd (HMSCL) launched a global tender on May 26. They invited pharma companies to supply vaccine. This supply will go directly to the Haryana state government. The tender was closed on June 4 and the Malta firm gave their offer right after that. Even though it was after the deadline, the officials are going through the details.

It offered to provide 60 million doses of Sputnik V which is among the vaccines approved by India. Sputnik V received the EUA after Indian manufactured vaccines were running into shortage. Recently the Serum Institute of India also got permission from DCGI to manufacture the vaccine. Adar Poonawalla's company will first test, analyse and then manufacture the vaccine at Pune.

The DCGI has given preliminary approval for the SII which means it can develop and manufacture the vaccine for testing purpose and not sell it.