Moderna rejected request for direct supply of coronavirus vaccines: Punjab govt

New Delhi: World's leading vaccine manufacturer, Moderna Inc. has declined a request for a direct supply of vaccines by the Punjab state government. 

The Punjab government had recently requested all the leading vaccine manufacturers that include Pfizer- BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Russian Sputnik V and Moderna for the direct supply of the coronavirus vaccines to the state. 

"One of a Covid vaccine manufacturer Moderna has refused to send direct vaccination to Punjab government as according to their policy, they only deal with Government of India and not with any state government or private parties," said a statement issued by Punjab's Information and Public Relations Department.

The statement further added that "It may be recalled that the state government was forced to stop vaccination for phase 1 and phase 2 categories in the last three days because of non-availability."

Vikas Garg, Punjab's nodal officer for vaccination said that "the company as per its policy would only deal with the Government of India" on Sunday (May 23).

"All efforts would be made for procurement of vaccines to meet the acute shortage in the state, which had received fewer than 44 lakh vaccine doses so far from the Government of India," the notification further stated.

Punjab recorded 5421 new coronavirus cases, 201 people succumbed to death in the past 24 hours as per the bulletin released by the health bulletin on Saturday (May 22).