Mumbai has turned to Dr Reddy Laboratories, the distributor for Russian Sputnik V vaccine, to augment supplies for the city after it scrapped the nine proposals it had received in response to its global tender for lack of necessary documents.

“DRL [Dr Reddy’s Laboratories] has shown willingness to provide a limited quantity of Russian origin Sputnik vaccine to the BMC in June under a pilot programme. The corporation will also examine cold chain requirements for Sputnik doses upon confirmation of supplies” the civic authority said in a statement Friday.

As the criteria for cold storage of the Sputnik vaccine are different from those of the two prevalent versions, its storage needs will be tested after receiving the stock.  The BMC wants the company to supply more doses in July and August, and further discussion for that will held in eight to ten days. The BMC expects supply of all vaccines within three weeks from the day work order is issued.

BMC had on May 12 issued a global ‘expression of interest’ (EOI) inviting offers for supply of 1 crore doses from Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, their Indian partners, wholesalers and authorised distributors of manufacturers. Out of the 10 suppliers that submitted proposals, one supplier withdrew before the final deadline of June 1.

“It is important to examine the business relationship between suppliers who are willing to supply vaccines and companies that actually produce vaccines. The criteria to qualify were – assurance for timely supply, the period needed to deliver doses, the quantity, and terms and conditions about rates and payments. None of the suppliers could qualify due to lack of complete documents. After thorough scrutiny the civic authority disqualified nine responders,” BMC said.

As many as 175 fully functional BMC vaccination centres have been shut due to the shortage of vaccines since last month and the inoculation drive have been suspended.