Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said that Delhi’s daily medical oxygen requirement has come down with a decrease in new COVID-19 cases and that extra oxygen can be given to other States.
“We have written to the Central government on Thursday that Delhi’s daily oxygen requirement now is only 582 MT, instead of 700 MT. We have informed the Central government that Delhi’s quota is 590 MT and the extra oxygen we are getting could be given to other States which need more oxygen,” Mr. Sisodia said in a video statement.
The Minister said that the test positivity rate is around 14% and new cases have come down on Thursday to around 10,400.
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He also said that the SOS calls for oxygen from hospitals have also come down.
He said that the oxygen demand was directly proportional to the increase in cases. “During the peak period, we were getting regular SOS calls from the hospitals. Now, we receive 1-2 SOS calls daily which are fulfilled without any delay. Delhi government is a responsible government and hence it is requesting the Centre to reduce the daily oxygen allocation of Delhi to 582 MT,” he said.
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Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said that he has urged the Union Health Minister to fix prices of vaccines at ₹150 and added that vaccine manufacturers were making huge profits.
“The manufacturers of Covaxin and Covishield have considered this crisis as an opportunity to generate high profits. So, when Covishield is being supplied to the Centre at ₹150 and at this rate, the chairman has stated on record that they are incurring profits,” Mr. Jain said.
“The company is manufacturing 6 crore vaccines every month. Even if we go by a profit of ₹10 per dose, and they give half of the vaccines to the Centre, which is 3 crore, the estimated profit comes out to be ₹30 crore. Now, the same vaccine is being sold to State governments at ₹300, which means the profit doubles, while the cost of production remains the same... So, on 100 crore doses, [they are making] a profit of ₹16,000 crore,” the Health Minister said.
Mr. Jain said that he has also told the Union Minister that instead of States going separately for international tenders for vaccines, the Central government should buy it for all States. He also said that about 100 vaccination centres are closed due to shortage of vaccines.
In a related development, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Jai Prakash said that Delhi government should allow vaccination of people above 18 years at all centres so that maximum number of residents can be vaccinated in a less time.