Moderna refuses Punjab’s request for vaccine, says will only deal with Centre; other firms fail to respond

US pharmaceutical firm Moderna has refused to supply its COVID vaccine directly to Punjab, saying that it will deal only with the Government of India, as per its policy.

The Capt. Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government had reached out to all such manufacturers looking for direct purchases, officials said, as per an NDTV report.

Punjab is exploring possibilities of floating a global tender to procure vaccines from all possible sources, including Sputnik V manufacturer Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, state nodal officer for vaccination, Vikas Garg was quoted as saying.

Only Moderna has replied till now, but the firm has refused to deal with the state government, he said.

Punjab was forced to stop vaccination for Phase 1 and 2 categories in the past three days due to non-availability of doses. The state has been been able to buy only 4.2 lakh vaccine doses, including 66,000 received on Saturday, under the Centre's Phase 3 (18-44 age group) allocation.

Up to 3.65 lakh of these have already been used, leaving only 64,000 now, Garg said.