Telangana in Talks With Bharat Biotech, Dr Reddy's For Vaccine Procurement

The Telangana government is in talks with Bharat Biotech and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) for procuring Covid-19 vaccines in the state to ensure all those above 18 get the jab. Bharat Biotech is manufacturing Covaxin whereas DRL is partnering to import the Sputnik-V vaccine.

Though the talks are on, there are indications that it may take at least a few weeks for the State government to complete the negotiations, secure a large batch of vaccines from the manufacturers. Officials are planning to launch the vaccination drive then by issuing slots to beneficiaries.

The Covid vaccination drive was launched in January across India, but a large number of people are facing difficulties in getting access to the second dose of vaccine. Moreover, there has been no assurance from the Centre over a steady supply of vaccines. 

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More than 3.5 crore people have to be administered vaccine in the state. “We can’t administer two different vaccines to one person. Moreover, there is the question of pricing and we will negotiate,” Health Minister E Rajender said on Thursday.

He explained that allotting slots on CoWIN portal without actually having the jab ready will end up creating problems. Depending on the availability of the vaccine, we will start allotting the slot, Minister Etela added.