Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the new coronavirus vaccine distribution policy and provide the required shots free of cost to the state governments.

The government had announced on Monday that everyone above 18 years of age can be vaccinated from May 1. In the third phase of the immunisation programme, vaccine manufacturers will have to supply 50% of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory released doses to the Centre. They would be free to supply the remaining 50% doses to state governments and in the open market, the Centre said.

In a letter to the prime minister, Vijayan said states have been asked to get vaccines from the manufacturers. “The state governments are already facing additional financial commitments due to the pandemic,” he said. “The additional burden of purchasing vaccines will place considerable strain on state finances.’’

Vijayan pointed out that although the distribution policy states the Centre will provide the vaccines free of cost from its quota, the states need reassurance that they will not be left to compete with open market players. “Instead of having a government of India channel, we need to have [a] government channel which will include the state government through whom the vaccine will be distributed.”

Vijayan said the states have a constitutional obligation in the health sector and need an assured quota of vaccines that has to be provided free in the pandemic situation.

Officials from states have highlighted that the distribution policy will be a heavy burden for states. Officials also added that the policy could lead to delay in the vaccination process itself as it is not clear whether supply of vaccines could match the demand.


Also read: ‘Unilateral decision’: States are unhappy with Modi’s decision to pass buck on vaccine costs

In his letter, Vijayan also said that Kerala had requested 50 lakh vaccine doses from the Centre but has only received 5.5 lakh shots. He said that because of this, the state government had to stop walk-in registrations for the vaccine. “I request you to allot the balance vaccine doses at the earliest,” the chief minister said.

Vijayan had highlighted the vaccine shortage on April 13 too, seeking 50 lakh doses as the stocks in the state were likely to last only three more days.

Besides Kerala, at least nine other states – Odisha, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab and Delhi – have reported vaccine shortages in the past week.

On Tuesday, Kerala registered 19,577 coronavirus cases, its highest single-day infection count since the pandemic outbreak in January 2020, reported the Hindustan Times. With 28 fatalities, the toll went up to 4,978. The active caseload also touched an all-time high of 1,18,673.