KTR slams at Centre over vaccine procurement

Exposing the Central government’s inefficiency in procuring Covid vaccine doses with facts and figures, Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said while all other countries placed their orders for vaccines in the first half of 2020, the Central government placed its orders in January 2021.

“Counting up all vaccine deals per capita, Canada has procured nearly nine doses per person. While all of this was happening, the Government of India was pushing Vaccine Maitri and promoting vaccine exports from India.” the Industries Minister criticised in his tweet.

The Minister conducted AskKTR session on Twitter and replied to wide variety of queries related to vaccination on Sunday. As usual, the one and a half hour long session was trending at number two position on Twitter India trends.

When Rohit Shelke, a Twitter user questioned about exorbitant charges being collected for vaccine, the Minister said, “Different prices per different entities have been permitted by Govt of India. For Centre Rs 150 and they take 85 percent of all vaccine produced. In the remaining 15 percent states & private hospitals have to compete. For States, Covishield is priced at Rs 300 and Covaxin at Rs 400.”

When another netizen asked Why Govt of India doesn’t make a deal with the other countries to get excess of doses (of AstraZeneca) and to replenish later, Industries Minister Rama Rao said, “There are more than 50 Crore unused doses of AstraZeneca vaccine (called Covishield in India) in various countries; United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway. Govt of India needs to start a dialogue immediately & procure these asap & allot to states.

He further added, The United States in May 2020 secured several million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine but didn’t use entire puchases under its vaccination programme. Countries like Norway, Denmark and Canada had ordered significant quantities of Astrazeneca vaccine.

On the Central Government funds allocation for vaccination, the Minister said, “The Govt of India had announced that they have allocated Rs 35,000 Cr in the Union Budget for vaccination. Assuming we cover 100% population, we need 272 Cr doses at Rs. 150 Rupees per dose. Don’t know where that allocation has gone now.”

When Anil asked, ‘Where is my vaccine?’, the Minister said, “Ask the Government of India that bungled up and created this situation where states are pitted against one another and against the private sector. They didn’t place orders when they had to and even now don’t want to call for a single tender for the entire country.”

Besides sharing the Central Government’s lacunae in



vaccination programme, he explained the measures being taken by State Government measures in vaccination in Telangana.

When asked about when the entire population of Telangana will get vaccinated, Minister KTR said, “The problem is vaccine supply versus demand gap. We have the ability to vaccinate more than 10 lakh people a day but unfortunately constraints on vaccine supplies are hampering brisk progress.”

When asked why the second dose of covishield vaccination stopped in Government hospitals in Telangana, KTR said, “As you are aware, the gap between first and second dose for covishield has been increased by Union Govt. Those who are eligible are being administered.”

In one of his tweets, KT Rama Rao also said that the State Government has given a second dose of vaccination to 13.5 lakh people in Telangana. Talking about the age restrictions on vaccination, Minister KTR said, “This age category vaccination is in fact strategically misplaced in my opinion. Telangana Govt has taken a novel approach to vaccinate High exposure – high risk occupational categories irrespective of age and we are covering both urban & rural areas.”

“The total current production capabilities of Bharat Biotech & Serum Institute of India as of May 2020 is at approximately 10 Cr doses per month. Now I request you to do the math as to how this would cover the huge percentage of 18-45 age group which is nearly 80 Cr @ 2 doses each,” said KTR, replying to a question on why centre asked citizens aged between 18-45 get vaccinated in private or State centres.

When asked as to why Telangana Government does not approach manufacturers and procure vaccine, the Minister said “When the States reach out to vaccine manufacturers, they are clearly saying they would rather deal with one entity; Government of India, who unfortunately seems to have no urgency to go for a global procurement and supply to all Indian States.”

When asked why the Telangana based pharma companies are not being incentivised to produce doses and take orders from the State, KTR said, “Unfortunately all their production is being closely monitored by Govt of India who is taking 85% production. In the remaining 15% we have to compete with other states & hospitals who buy at three times the rate. Guess who they would prefer selling to?”

Amidst the flow of queries and patiently replying, the Minister did not lose his cool, when a Twitter user abused him.

In spite of a few leaders calling him names and using disrespectful words, KTR remained calm and stated that it’s not in his culture to call names and insult people.