Lashing out at the Congress-led government in Punjab, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri alleged on Saturday that Covid vaccines supposed to be given for free to the beneficiaries were being sold at a higher price in the state to make profit.

In a virtual press conference talk, the Civil Aviation Minister said, "On May 29, Vikash Garg, the IAS officer-in-charge of the Covid vaccination programme in Punjab, said that 4.29 lakh doses of Covishield were purchased for Rs 13.25 crore at an average rate of Rs 309 per dose, but it was sold to private hospitals for Rs 1,000 apiece."

He further said that the Congress-led Punjab government had purchased 14,190 doses of Covaxin for Rs 4.70 crore at an average rate of Rs 412 per dose. "People were charged Rs 1,560 for a single dose of Covishield which was bought for Rs 309 by the Punjab government and sold to the private hospitals for Rs 1,000," Puri said.

The Minister also claimed that he has information about two hospitals in Mohali which sold vaccines for Rs 3,000 apiece. Puri pointed out that over 24 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been provided to the states and Union Territories (UTs), of which more than 1.65 crore doses are still available with the states/UTs for administration.

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