In view of "acute shortage" of anti-rabies vaccine in government hospitals, the Delhi Cabinet on October 17  cleared a proposal of the health department for its emergency procurement.



According to a statement, the Cabinet, in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also granted its ex-post facto approval for the already procured 40,000 vials. "The Cabinet approved the procurement of 80,000 vials of anti-rabies vaccine on a single bid basis and granted its ex-post facto approval for the already procured 40,000 vials," the statement stated.

Anti-rabies vaccine is an essential life saving vaccination administered to dog bite cases to prevent the deadly rabies infection, it said. "Currently, there is an acute shortage of this vaccine in Delhi hospitals since the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) could not procure due to several reasons -- withdrawal of rate contract by the bidder, poor availability of ARV in the open market and single bid participation in the CPA open tender," the statement stated.

The government said that to tackle the situation a meeting under the chairmanship of Director General of Health Services in the central government was held in Nirman Bhawan. In the meeting, various decisions were taken to tackle the situation. It was decided all organisations will make all the possible efforts to overcome the shortage and if required, this vaccine may be procured from the public sector undertaking and other state medical service corporations.

Meanwhile, considering the "grim situation", the finance department also accorded approval to purchase 30,000 vials from a particular single source since the availability of this vaccine in the local market is also "very scarce", it said. During the current financial year 2019-20, there is a budget provision of Rs 297.80 crore under CPA for purchase of medicines, the statement added.