Private Hospitals Offering Discounts on Vaccines

Private immunization centers that normally charge ₹780 more for a Covishield dose ₹1,410 for Covaxin are struggling to use their stockpiled vaccines by the end of September, as better vaccine supplies at government centers have made it easier for people to get free shots.

To ensure that vaccines are not wasted, some private immunization centers are offering vaccines at purchase rates and waived service charges. Some have even lowered the rates.

“The availability of the vaccine is very high across the country. These include locations in West Bengal, Gujarat and Jharkhand. The private sector would like the government to buy the doses of these vaccines at a cost. Otherwise, it will become useless due to termination,” said Girdhar J. Giani, Director General, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) (AHPI).

Giani said some hospital chains in Hyderabad like Narayana Health and Yashoda Hospital are not charging service charges from the beginning.

“Others may have to do the same to consume the vaccine. All this is happening for a variety of reasons such as some areas getting more government supplies, and others hesitating; So overall, we need to assess the demand and do the mapping to make purchases accordingly. With this, it is becoming very difficult for the private sector to sustain it,” Giani said.

The government changed its vaccine procurement policy in June to buy 75% of total production and leave 25% to the private sector to buy directly from manufacturers.

The government said that to encourage production by vaccine manufacturers and encourage new vaccines, domestic vaccine manufacturers have been given the option of providing vaccines directly to private hospitals as well, limited to 25% of their monthly production.

Private hospitals are trying to utilize the dose by running special drives at lower rates. Some hospitals are even providing free vaccines through their Corporate Social Responsibility Fund, while others are transferring their vaccine stock to other hospitals.

“At all our hospitals, we are organizing special camps from time to time to make vaccines available at procurement rates as the aim is to get maximum vaccinations as early as possible. The government is planning to vaccinate all its citizens by the end of 2021, these efforts will surely increase immunization in the country as it will also empower small players to buy doses,” said Dr Shankar Narang, Chief Operating Officer, Paras Healthcare. he said.

In July, the central government had asked states to review vaccine procurement by private centres.

“In our hospital, we have vaccines as of September 22, but there has been a huge drop in consumption in private centres. We’re not sure we’ll be able to finish them until then. People are opting for free immunization from government and municipal centers,” said Dr. Nirmal G. Choria, President, Nirmal Hospital Pvt Ltd, Surat.

Navneet Bali said, “Our hospital organized several camps for such sections of the society who could not afford the cost of vaccination, thereby not only reducing the burden on the government centers but also supporting the continued consumption of the vaccine substantially. Vaccination amounts also helped.” Regional Director- North, Narayan Health.

In July, the Center asked Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers not to reserve 25% of the production of doses for private hospitals following the slow pace of vaccination in private sector vaccination centres.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in an oral reply in Parliament said that unused doses by the private sector will now be used by government COVID vaccination centres. However, according to the officials of the Union Health Ministry, no progress has been made in this regard.

The country’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 721 million on Thursday, with 550 million people receiving at least one dose.