Chandigarh, May 23 (IANS): Citing its policy, Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna has refused to send the vaccine direct to Punjab, state nodal officer for vaccination Vikas Garg said on Sunday.

He said all vaccine manufacturers were approached for direct purchase of vaccines, including Sputnik V, Pfizer, Modern, and Johnson & Johnson.

Garg said the reply was received from Moderna only in which the company refused to deal with the state government.

The state was forced to stop vaccination for Phase 1 and 2 categories in the last three days because of non-availability.

All efforts would be made for procurement of vaccines to meet the acute shortage in the state, which had received less than 44 lakh vaccine doses from the Centre, the official said.

As per the Centre allocation for Phase 3 (18-44 age group), the state government has been able to buy only 4.2 lakh vaccine doses, including 66,000 received on Saturday.

A total of 3.65 lakh have already been used, leaving only 64,000 for use as of now, added Garg.