11 May,2021 05:16 AM IST | Mumbai | Chetna Sadadekar
One of the conditions in the tenders would be that the vaccines should be in use in the US and Europe. Representation pic/Ashish Raje
The city may soon have access to international vaccines as the BMC is planning to float global tenders to procure 50 lakh vaccine vials, which are expected to reach citizens in a month and a half. The vaccines would be offered in civic-run centres only and citizens are likely to get them free of cost. Further, the tenders would have the condition that countries bordering India cannot participate, which means the Chinese vaccine won't be allowed.
BMC will be inviting an expression of interest in the next two days. It does not have a price range specification as of now and the tenders will be open ones. With the demand high, civic officials said that prices are bound to be higher and as such, they are not setting a price and would have an idea when the bids are in.
The BMC will float a series of tenders as the consignment is large and no single manufacturer would be able to provide them at once. The first lot is expected to come by the end of the next month. Further, bidders coming forward will have to ensure that all the relevant permissions of the Government of India are in place. Some of the other conditions include - the vaccine must be in use in the US and Europe, have all certifications and must have gone through all valid trials.
A civic official said, "Authorities will be finalising the sequencing of the tenders, such as what amount of vials should be ordered in the first tender to be floated immediately, and whether others should be immediately floated or should we wait till response to the first lot comes. But around 50 lakh vaccine vials will be required and the plan is to float tenders for that many. Chinese vaccines will not be allowed to participate as the conditions mention that countries bordering India are not allowed. Further, the bidders will have to give the vaccines to the BMC in ready-to-use form and there should not be any kind of delay as we will be giving the bidders three weeks' time for the delivery after the finalisation of the tender."
Confirming the development, P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner, said, "We will be floating the expression of interest in the next two days and are expecting to deliver these foreign vaccines in a month and half to the citizens."
BJP MLA from Mulund Mihir Kotecha claimed that there is a scam taking place in the vaccination process. He said that a beneficiary could not get the vaccine yet a certificate of her having taken a dose was issued. The woman was scheduled to take a dose at a BMC-run centre in Vikhroli on Monday. Kotecha tweeted about the matter and demanded a thorough audit.
To streamline the vaccination process, the BMC has decided to open online booking of slots at 9 pm every day. However, bookings will be available on a first-come-first-served basis. As the civic body continues to face a shortage of vaccines, preference is being given to beneficiaries of the second dose. A total of 31,043 beneficiaries were inoculated at various civic and government centres on Monday and another 16 centres will start operating today. Eight cases of adverse effects were reported. So far the city has inoculated 27,31,474 beneficiaries, of which 66,38,51 lakh have got both doses; 10,591 senior citizens and 11,047 people above 45 years of age; 1,661 healthcare workers, 2,907 frontline workers and 2,907 people between the age of 18 and 44 years got their doses on Monday.
