Govt relaxes PPRA rules to procure COVID-19 vaccine

The federal cabinet has decide to relax Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules to approve procurement of novel coronavirus vaccine.

The development was made during the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. During the huddle, PM Imran was briefed about the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the country.

As per Dawn, there will be no need to fulfil the tender requirement to secure the vaccine, which will be procured from any of the six companies registered with the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS).

The decision to purchase the vaccine on a single-bid basis was taken on humanitarian grounds.

The authority rules was relaxed because some cabinet members were worried by conditions to make purchase on a single-bid basis.

“They were concerned with the use of the word ‘may’ instead of the word ‘shall’ in many places and believed that it could become a fit case for NAB (National Accountability Bureau) inquiry,” the publication quoted a minister.

But the federal law minister explained that it was an old legal practice and the word ‘may’, in many cases, was considered ‘shall’. Farogh Naseem said there was nothing to worry about and relaxation could be given in PPRA rules.

On Dec 2, 2020, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had said the government expected the first phase of coronavirus vaccine procurement in the first quarter of 2021 as the cabinet had approved $150 million for it.