India on Thursday posted 211,298 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, while deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3,847.
The South Asian country’s overall caseload is now at 27.37 million, while total fatalities are at 315,235, according to health ministry data.
DRUGMAKERS REBUFF STATES
In desperation, several Indian state governments and even cities such as Mumbai have launched global tenders or sought expressions of interest from firms such as Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson for urgent supplies, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
But Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the three firms told them they were in touch with the federal Indian government and that they will not be dealing with state level authorities.
Sisodia blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for mishandling vaccine procurement and not moving fast enough to secure supplies for the country.
“It is a global blunder,” said Sisodia, whose Aam Aadmi Party is bitterly opposed to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The northern state of Punjab also said over the weekend its efforts to directly source supplies had been rebuffed by the foreign vaccine manufacturers. The hill state of Uttarakhand extended its global tender till the end of the month after failing to get any bid, local media reported on Tuesday.
“The vaccination drive is in shambles and people are suffering and despairing,” Anand Sharma, a leader of the main opposition Congress said, urging Modi to put aside politics and work with state governments to help them procure vaccines.
Pfizer said it was in talks with the Indian government to supply its vaccine, which has still to be cleared by India’s drug regulator.
“Pfizer remains committed to continuing our engagement with the government of India towards making the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine available for use in the country,” a spokeswoman told Reuters, declining to provide details of the ongoing discussions.
