YS Jagan COVID-19 VaccinationAndhra Pradesh Government had floated Global Tenders to procure COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate its entire population. The time has lapsed for the tenders and not even a single company evinced interest to supply vaccines for the state. The companies which attended the pre-bid meetings also did not evince interest.

Interestingly, this is a peculiar situation for Andhra Pradesh only. Dr. Reddys has agreed to supply its Sputnik V vaccine to the Delhi government. Karnataka’s global tenders got responses from two firms to supply Sputnik V. Maharashtra has got responses from as many as eight companies to supply 50 million doses.

Sources say that even Telangana Government has got a response from two companies for its Global tenders. Andhra Pradesh administration is taken aback by this lack of response. Main Opposition Party – TDP alleges that this only reflects the lack of investors’ confidence in the Andhra Pradesh Government.

Meanwhile, the Government is mulling over the options going forward to keep the vaccination program going. One option will be to float the tenders once again with more terms in favor of the vaccine companies.