Global Covid vaccine bid: Mumbai civic body rejects nine proposals

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday said it has rejected all nine proposals it received for supply of 10 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, as the suppliers did not submit required documents it sought from respondents to its global tender

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday said it has rejected all nine proposals it received for supply of 10 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, as the suppliers did not submit required documents it sought from respondents to its global tender. The civic body is in talks with Dr Reddy’s for Sputnik vaccine doses.

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The BMC had invited global expression of interest (EoI) on May 12 for procurement of 10 million Covid vaccines directly from the international market. It extended the application window twice on May 18 and May 25 for a week. On June 1, the BMC closed the application window, stating that it had received nine proposals, of which eight were for supplying Sputnik and one company had offered to supply any approved vaccine.

The BMC had also got a proposal to supply Pfizer and Astranzeneca vaccine. However, the Czech Republic-based company withdrew its proposal after Pfizer clarified it had not given any rights for distribution of its vaccine. Following this, last week, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Dr Reddy’s Laboratory also issued a statement that Dr Reddy’s has the sole distribution rights for the first 250 million vaccine doses of Sputnik. It asked not to believe claims made by any third party.

Considering these statements, and further as per its EoI condition, the BMC’s central procurement department (CPD) had asked the interested suppliers to submit documents to prove their link with the original manufacturers of the vaccine they propose to supply on Tuesday. The suppliers were given time till Friday, and considering they did not get any documents, CPD rejected all proposals.

A senior official of the BMC said, “CPD has rejected all nine proposals, and all nine suppliers now stand to be disqualified from the process. We have also submitted a report on this to municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal’s office.”

In a statement, the civic body said, “When contacted on Friday, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories have indicated their readiness to supply some stock of Sputnik vaccines to the corporation on an experimental basis by the end of June 2021. Further, discussions to procure a large stockpile of Sputnik vaccine are underway, and will be conducted for the next 8 to 10 days.”

According to BMC officials, considering the cold storage facility of Sputnik has to be customised, it will first take a small number of doses on an experimental basis, and after that go for a large stockpile. Similarly, the government is also negotiating with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to get Sputnik vaccine doses for the state.

The BMC official added, “Now, considering Dr Reddy’s Laboratory has the sole distribution rights of Sputnik in India, we have established a channel of contact with them. We will understand what they promise and in how much time to conclude whether we can procure vaccines from them. As of now, there are no plans to contact any other firm apart from Dr Reddy’s Laboratory.”