Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the Centre to procure and supply the entire quantity of Covid-19 vaccines required for administering it to all groups including those in the 18-45 age bracket.
Since the Union government changed its policy for states to directly procure vaccines from manufacturers at predetermined prices for phase-3 of the vaccination drive, Palaniswami said that a “differential price mechanism” is “inherently unfair”.
He pointed out that the new prices are different from the prices at which the Union government is procuring vaccines. “Some manufacturers have already announced a higher, increased rate for procurement of vaccines by the state governments,” he said adding that this would put a higher financial burden on the states which have lesser financial resources compared to the Central government. “Since budgetary provision of ₹35,000 crore has been made in the Budget Estimates for 2021-22 for the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme, states have a legitimate expectation that the Government of India would supply the Covid-19 vaccines for phase 3,” Palaniswami wrote in his letter.
On Friday, the chief minister had written to PM Modi urging the Centre to allocate an assured supply of 20 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines. He had also asked for permission to be granted for an Integrated Vaccine Complex in Chengalpattu district near Chennai as it was ready and could augment production of Covid-19 vaccines.
{{/usCountry}}On Friday, the chief minister had written to PM Modi urging the Centre to allocate an assured supply of 20 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines. He had also asked for permission to be granted for an Integrated Vaccine Complex in Chengalpattu district near Chennai as it was ready and could augment production of Covid-19 vaccines.
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