Struggling with rationing and prioritising available supplies amid the acute Covid-19 vaccine shortage, the BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) has floated a global tender for supply of 1 crore doses, even as it has announced a walk-in vaccination campaign next week for select categories of citizens.

The country’s richest civic body has issued a global tender inviting expression of interest (EOI) from Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, their Indian partners, wholesalers of manufacturers, and authorised distributors of manufacturers for supply of 10 million vaccines. The bids have to be submitted before 1 pm on May 18 and they will be opened at 3 pm on the same day.

As per the tender, the vaccine should be as per the guidelines issued by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and have the DCGI approval for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines in the Indian territory. All necessary clearances from the central government will have to be taken by the manufacturers themselves, the BMC has said. The chosen company will have to supply all the vaccines within three weeks from the day work order is issued.

“The applicant should not belong to the countries sharing borders with India,” the tender notes, which means Chinese vaccine manufacturers cannot participate in the global bid.      
 
The vaccine supplier will have to provide the required storage facility for Covid-19 vaccine till the vaccination points. The BMC has reserved the right to call all eligible firms willing to match the lowest (‘L-1’) rates with itself and it will decide the number of suppliers to be given the purchase orders depending upon the requirement of the vaccines. As per the EoI, the BMC currently has 20 hospitals and 240 vaccination centres.

On April 27, the state government floated a global tender to procure 10 lakh Remdesivir vials, 40,000 oxygen concentrators and 25,000 metric tonnes of oxygen. It has been reported that as many as two-thirds of all districts have been reporting a positivity rate of more than 20 percent and  alarming dip in vaccination after the centre norms  of vaccination of 18-plus age group kicked in from May 1.

Walk-in vaccination

From May 17 to May 19, walk-in vaccination and on-spot registration will be allowed at government-run and BMC vaccination centres for 60+ age group for both vaccines, for people waiting to get their second dose of Covaxin as well as for all the differently-abled.

In a circular, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said that one vaccination centre is being set up in each ward and the working hours of the centres should be fixed based on the number of doses available for the day. “There should be at least 100 doses available at every booth and each vaccination centre must only administer 100 doses per day, per booth,” the circular said.

The BMC has also directed all vaccination centres to update their respective timings and slots on CoWIN app as per vaccine dose available at each centre.

Due to the vaccine shortage, the Maharashtra government suspended inoculation for the 18-44 age group and diverted the vaccine stock for the above-45-years age group and others waiting for their 2nd dose.

But from Thursday to Saturday vaccination would take place only by prior appointment through Co-WIN app, and the centres will remain closed on Sunday, it said.