Contrary to expectation, private hospitals are witnessing a slow pace of Covid-19 vaccination, leaving doses unusable, while state-run centers are facing supply crunch.
As the demand for vaccines in private hospitals is less than the stock available with them, some states have sought a review of the policy of allocating 25 per cent of the supply to private players.
In Andhra Pradesh, though 35 lakh doses have been supplied to private hospitals since May, only 4.63 lakh doses have been used so far. In Tamil Nadu, out of 1.85 crore doses given so far, only 5 per cent were in private hospitals.
While the AP sought re-allocation of unused doses by private hospitals to the state, Tamil Nadu asked the Center to reduce private hospital supplies by 10 per cent so that more doses go to state centres. Maharashtra is also looking to intervene to put unused private shares to better use.
no personal orders
inquired by business Line found that the situation was not much different in Telangana, Gujarat and Delhi. Recently, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had said that many private immunization centers had not placed any order for the 25 per cent prescribed for them.
Anoop Lawrence, general manager of Global Hospitals, Mumbai, said some hospitals are sitting on huge stocks, making it difficult for other immunization centers (government and private) to get doses. “The CoWin app should include a feature to limit the stock that hospitals can order, if they are still sitting on unused stock,” he suggested.
In fact, due to lack of vaccine in Mumbai, Thane and other places for the last few days, vaccination has stopped. Nashik, Sangli and Kolhapur are also facing shortages, although shots were available in many private hospitals. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the state has not slowed down its vaccination but is waiting for the stock.
Shantanu Sen, Trinamool Congress MP and former president of the Indian Medical Association, said: “Instead of keeping options for private players, the Center should have taken full responsibility for vaccination. People are being charged higher price at these private centers without any logical reason. “
price pain
Private hospital representatives do not accept any demand from the middle class as expected.
Council for Healthcare and Pharma President Gurpreet Sandhu said the high cost of vaccines, 800-1,400 in private hospitals, was a deterrent for many. “There is strength in large hospital chains like Max Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals and Fortis…,” he said, indicating that smaller institutions may not have the paying capacity to purchase large numbers.
A source in the Vadodara-based hospital network said, “The procurement should be on 100 per cent upfront payment. Second, many people now prefer government vaccine centers either for free doses or for proximity and convenience. A pay center includes the cost of infrastructure and staff. And it is not viable if we do not give 100-150 doses in a day. That’s not happening right now.”
Many private hospitals, which had set up paid vaccination centres, have now suspended operations due to low turnout and unfavorable cost economics.
Never mind, say some hospitals
However, several private hospitals indicated that they are satisfied with the position of procurement and supply of the vaccine. Jyoti Mishra with Aakash Healthcare Super Specialty Hospital, Dwarka said that they have stockpile of vaccines for more than a month, and they did not face problems. Similarly, Chennai-based MGM Healthcare chief executive Harish Maniyan said “adequate” vaccines were procured and they were “well equipped” to meet the demand.
An official at CIMS Hospitals (Ahmedabad) said, they would be happy to continue with the vaccination provided there is clarity on the supply-chain.
At Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital, the focus was on getting people vaccinated at their offices, said chief executive, N Santhanam. “With people working from home, infrastructure is available and in two-three days, employees and their families are vaccinated,” he said, adding that there was no problem in procurement and supplies.
In the city’s suburbs, Jupiter Hospital chairman and managing director Dr Ajay Thakkar said the hospital has nearly half a million vaccine stocks that will last them three months, and added: “There was no concern over the unused stock.
According to the CoWin dashboard, of the 40,870 vaccination sites, 38,966 are government and 1,904 are private sites.
(With inputs from Monica Yadav in Delhi, Rutam Vora in Ahmedabad, Narayanan V in Chennai, Abhishek Law in Kolkata, Radheshyam Jadhav in Pune, PT Jyothi Datta in Mumbai.)
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