‘You have 5 year plan’: Gujarat HC to state govt on pace of procurement of COVID vaccines

‘Pfizer and Moderna don’t want to interact with state government, only with Central government, the state’s counsel told the court when asked why global tenders can’t be floated for vaccines

Representative Image (Photo Courtesy: Social Media)
Representative Image (Photo Courtesy: Social Media)
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NH Web Desk

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday observed in the passing that going by the pace at which the state government is procuring vaccines, it might take 5 years to achieve the desired targets.

The remarks were made after the state government through Advocate General (AG) Kamal Trivedi told the court that the state has got 16 lakh vaccine does in May and will get 10.7 lakh in June.

"That means you have 5 year plan," the Bench remarked.

"We are the mercy of the manufacturers," the AG responded.


The Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Bhargav D Karia was hearing suo motu a plea to deal with issues arising from COVID-19 management

The Advocate General told the court that Government of India has mandated that vaccine manufacturer should not provide more than 50 percent of the vaccines produced to any single state, Bar & Bench reported.

"What is the problem in asking for a global tender? Why can't state make an effort?" the Bench queried.

"Pfizer and Moderna don’t want to interact with state government. They want to interact only with Central government," the AG responded.

The hearing was in progress at the time of this report being published.

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