The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it has received bids for the supply of Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines in response to its global tender for one crore doses.
According to ANI, BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said they received eight bids, of which one was for Pfizer/AstraZeneca vaccines, and the remaining for Sputnik V.
“We have received 8 bids in response to BMC Global Expression of Interest for procurement of 1 crore vaccine doses till date. One bid is for Pfizer/AstraZeneca & remaining 7 bids are for Sputnik,” ANI tweeted quoting Chahal.
But a Pfizer spokesperson said “neither Pfizer nor any of its affiliates globally, including in India, have authorised anyone to import/market/distribute Pfizer-BioNTech COVID 19 vaccine”, ANI said in another tweet.
“We continue to have discussions with GoI towards making our vaccine available for use nationally,” the spokesperson said.
The BMC has now extended the time period to enable bidders to submit documents in support of their bids.
The time period has been extended by one week to enable various bidders to submit complete set of documents in support of the bids as prescribed under BMC’s Global Expression of Interest. Any additional bid shall also be entertained: Iqbal Singh Chahal, BMC Commissioner (2/2)— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2021
The Pfizer/AstraZeneca bid is from a Czech company called O2 Blue Energy SRL, which said it could provide a mix of both the vaccines in a month, NDTV reported.
Pfizer had earlier refused to supply vaccines directly to states and had even told Punjab and Delhi it would deal directly with the central government.
The Mumbai civic body had on May 12 floated a global expression of interest (EoI) for procurement of one crore doses to expedite the vaccination process.
Bidders need to have wherewithal for vaccine delivery
It is necessary for the bidders to have their own cold chain for vaccine transport and delivery or to show a valid contract with an agent that has facilities to transport the vaccines to the storage facility, hospitals, or vaccination centres.
Mumbai was forced to shut down many vaccination centres because of a shortage of jabs, especially after May 1, when the immunisation drive was expanded to include the 18-44 age group.
Many states have since announced they would float global tenders to source vaccines directly from the foreign manufacturers.
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