The Odisha government, which was scheduled to open technical and price bids for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines from the international market on Friday, has extended the global tender process by seven days.
“Global tender has been extended by seven days in view of requests from many prospective vendors, cyclones and also for greater participation,” said a senior officer here on Friday.
Odisha was among the first few States that considered getting vaccines from the international market.
As per the revised schedule announced by the Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited, the final date for online bid submission, opening of technical bid and opening of price bid would be June 4.
Last week, the Odisha Cabinet had approved a tender document offering many relaxations to manufacturers.
To ensure participation, the government has decided to waive the performance security amount, which was determined at 3%, for vaccine manufacturers whose numbers are currently very few in the market.
Moreover, to facilitate the participation of manufacturer of vaccines that should be stored in supercool temperatures, the storage condition was revised up to -20oC provided that the vaccines would remain stable and maintain their potency at 2oC to 8oC for at least 12 hours.
Earlier, it was decided that the L1 bidder would be awarded 50% of the vaccines to be procured and the remaining 50% would be distributed among other bidders. But later, the government decided that any vaccine manufacturer could bid for the entire vaccine quantity.
