The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre that several state governments are now issuing global tenders to procure vaccines, is this the central policy on vaccine procurement. The court also observed that to date, the Centre has failed to submit a national policy document on Covid vaccines.
The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud was hearing a suo motu case related to the supply of essential medicines, vaccines and medical oxygen to coronavirus patients.
“Several states are issuing global tenders to procure foreign vaccines for Covid-19 and is this policy of the central government,” the Supreme Court bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
The Centre had earlier said that the entire eligible population of India would be vaccinated by the end of 2021. Mehta informed the Supreme Court that the Centre is in talks with Pfizer and others and if it succeeds, then the timeline for completing the vaccination would be faster.
The Supreme Court asked on Monday, “Are you asking the state to pick up and compete with each other?”
To this, Mehta said, “It’s factually wrong to say that states are competing with each other. It’s not the situation that some states pay more and get more vaccines.”
However, the Supreme Court cited the case of Maharashtra and said, “We are seeing a spectacle now where municipal corporations and states are issuing global tenders. Is it a government policy that each municipal corporation and state will be left to their own devices and procure global tenders?”
“Compare the budget of the Mumbai municipal corporation with that of some city municipal corporation in a UP or Bihar or any other state. The BMC budget is more than that of some of the states. Are you allowing as a policy for the municipal corporations to open tenders,” asked the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court also asked if there is any policy guidance about negotiating vaccine prices and questioned the vaccination pricing policy.
