Have cancelled order to buy one crore vaccine, Kerala govt tells high court; despite repeated pleas companies didn’t cooperate  

​​​KOCHI: The state government had informed the high court that it had cancelled the order to buy one crore doses of vaccine. The government said that it withdrew the order after the companies informed that they can’t supply such a bulk order of vaccines. The government informed its stand while hearing a series of petitions filed in the high court alleging irregularities in the vaccine distribution policy.

“Earlier, the central government's vaccination policy was that people between the ages of 18 and 44 should pay for the vaccine. In parallel to this policy, the state government announced that it would provide free vaccination to all. Based on this, the state government decided to buy one crore doses from the vaccine firms but the order had been revoked,” the state government told the high court.

The government informed the high court that vaccine firms were unwilling to supply such a bulk order. The companies say that they need the permission of the Center and a high-level committee to supply one crore vaccine doses. The centre is also a party in this case.

At one point, even the court asked the central government whether it could provide the vaccines free of cost to all. Last day, the centre has amended its vaccine policy and had announced free vaccination to all. In this background, the court had asked the centre to explain its new vaccine policy and had postponed the hearing on the petitions to Thursday.