Telangana has been reeling from a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. In an attempt to remedy this, the state government today decided that it would float a global tender for the procurement of the vaccines to complete the inoculation of the state's entire population. Alongside this decision, it also announced that a ten-day-long lockdown would be implemented in the state to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Both the decisions were made at a Cabinet meeting held at the Pragati Bhavan. At the meeting, chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the leaders of the state decided that floating tenders for vaccine procurement would be an effective way to resolve the shortage issues being faced by Telangana.
With this, Telangana became the second state that has decided to float a global tender to find sellers of Covid-19 vaccines. The first government to do so was the Odisha government, which took the call to procure vaccines globally yesterday.
The state is currently administering the vaccine only to those who have
already received the first of two injections - the people who have taken the first shot can reportedly go to any government vaccination centre till May 12 for the second injection. All fresh immunisations, however, have been stalled for now due to the shortage.
A surge in cases and the directions of the state's high court have prompted today's decisions.