K’taka’s global tender for vaccines get response from 2 firms to supply Sputnik

Bengaluru: In response to a global tender floated by Karnataka to procure two crore anti-COVID-19 vaccines, two suppliers have come forward to supply Russia’s Sputnik V and Sputnik Lite vaccines.

Mumbai- based Bulk MRO Industrial Supply Private Limited and Bengaluru-based Thulasi Systems have responded to the tender that closed on Monday, and no bids have come from major vaccine manufacturers, official sources said.

While Bulk MRO Industrial has offered to supply Sputnik V, Thulasi has said it can also supply the Sputnik Lite, single-dose vaccines.

The documents including financial bids will be scrutinised, and only after that negotiations on price and other things may happen, an official said, adding that ”the government will take a final decision on procurement after going through all aspects and procedures required.”

However, the government is also reportedly mulling over extending the time limit for the bids, looking for more response.

With the country battling the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, several States have called for a global tender to procure the vaccines.

The Karnataka government had recently approved Rs 843 crore for vaccine procurement.

The State government is also directly procuring domestically manufactured vaccines – Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin – aimed at increasing the pace of vaccination in the State.

According to information shared by the state’s Health Minister K Sudhakar recently, Karnataka has so far received 12,91,280 doses of Covaxin under the Central quota and 1,44,170 doses under direct procurement.

While total Covishield doses received from the Centre is 1.05 crore, 13.54 lakh doses have been purchased directly by the State.

With a shortage of vaccines, the government has limited vaccination for the 18-44 age category to only select priority groups, for now, while the vaccination to other age groups is going on slowly.