Covid-19: Global vaccine EoI extended till May 25 by BMC

The global Expression of Interest (EoI) issued by Brihnamumbai Municipal Corporation to procure one crore Covid-19 vaccines was on Tuesday extended by a week till May 25 as no supplier came forward, civic officials said. The EoI was first floated on May 12 with May 18 as the deadline for those wanting to answer it, but not a single bid or query came in, they said.

"As per the EoI conditions, the supplier will have to give the entire consignment of vaccines within three weeks from the day the work order is issued. It is open for vaccine manufacturers, their Indian partners, authorised distributors, while entities from countries sharing borders with India have been barred," an official explained.

Those answering the EoI must have valid licences to manufacture the vaccine as well as authorisation to export it to India, while the doses must be as per ICMR and DCGI norms, he said.

The vaccine drive in the metropolis has been going on in fits and starts, due to shortage of doses.

The BMC currently has 20 hospitals and 240 centres where doses are being administered.