SII, Bharat Biotech may skip state tenders | Economic Times

Indian vaccine manufacturers — Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India — may not participate in global tenders floated by states such as Odisha, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as these companies are already supplying vaccines to states across India, officials aware of the development told ET.Last week these governments had floated tenders inviting bids from companies to supply Covid-19 vaccines. In case of UP and Odisha, the tender specification invites vaccines that can be stored at a temperature ranging between 2-8 degree celsius. The UP government has also stated that it has facilities — with walk-in coolers and ice-lined refrigerators — mainly for storage in the range of 2-8 degree celsius and has limited capacity for -20 celsius storage which is provided by deep freezers. 82719578“In case of -20 celsius the seller has to advise and facilitate the transportation up to the consignee place and safe storage at consignee store till the time the item (vaccine) is dispatched from the consignee store to the ultimate destination (vaccine administration place),” the tender mentions.Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India did not respond to ET's queries. These tenders were floated to attract global vaccine companies such as Pfizer, Moderna, J&J, among others, to participate in the vaccination drive.The tenders for UP, Odisha and Tamil Nadu are valid till May 21, May 28 and June 5, respectively.Tamil Nadu has issued a tender for the supply of 35 million doses. In Maharashtra, the BMC said that it will float a global tender for the procurement of 10 million doses.Till April the government of India has supplied 16.5 million doses to all the states and in May it will be supplying a further lot of 25 million. Vinod Paul, head of the National Expert Group On Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 said that in May the total production of doses in the country will be 73 million.