Hyderabad: Telangana state has urged the Centre to import Covid-19 vaccines from countries that have them in surplus. This, IT minister K. T. Rama Rao said, will help states vaccinate their people.
“Universal Covid-19 vaccination is the only permanent solution for dealing with the present crisis,” said the minister while inaugurating a 150-bed intensive care unit (ICU) for Covid-19 patients at the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) in Gachibowli here.
Rama Rao pointed out that 50 crore vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca are lying unutilised in countries like Norway, Denmark, Canada and the USA. “What is preventing the centre from opening dialogue with these countries and procuring the vaccines. This will allow for vaccination of half of the Indian population,” he stated.
The minister regretted that the Central government has depended only on two companies – Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India — for supply of vaccines, though it would not…