THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The demand for paid Covid vaccination in private hospitals has come down after the initial rush as the availability of free vaccine supply in the previous weeks has made people wait even as the government supplies have tapered.
As a result, the private hospitals are sitting on large unused stocks while the government centres wait for the next allocation from the Centre.
The drag has come at a time when the government has planned a month-long vaccination drive in a bid to reopen schools and shops and address the livelihood issues.
The state gave less than one lakh doses through 411 government vaccination and 333 private centres on Tuesday.
The situation is likely to improve on Wednesday with the arrival of 5,11,080 fresh doses from the Centre on Tuesday evening.
The low demand for vaccines in private hospitals was reported in different parts of the country.
While the experts blame the vaccine policy for contributing to the situation, the delay is bad news for the state as it has over 50% of the population susceptible.
According to them, increasing the pace of vaccination is the only option before the state to prevent another surge as lockdowns are not considered feasible anymore.
“We need innovative thinking to vaccinate at least 25% of the population as early as possible to get some kind of herd immunity. Instead of getting into the blame game, the state should utilise the resources of private hospitals. It gets funds to subsidise the jabs in private hospitals to make it attractive for the public. At present, private hospitals are wary of making further purchases as they are worried over the low demand. With the government’s backing, they will be able to place bulk orders directly with the vaccine manufacturers and such orders are easier to get,” said immunologist and public health expert Dr Padmanabha Shenoy.
According to him, the government could encourage bulk orders so that the state gets 50-60 lakh doses for the next six months.
As per the new vaccine policy, the states and private hospitals have 25% share in vaccines produced in the country. While the states pay Rs 300 for a dose of Covishield, the private hospitals pay Rs 630.
The government has recognised the role of private hospitals as it agreed to channel the supplies.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on August 8 said the state government would buy 20 lakh doses of vaccines and provide them to private hospitals at the same rate to improve the coverage ahead of school reopening.
However, the private hospitals are concerned about making purchases even at this rate.
“Many private hospitals that made repeated purchases after seeing the initial demand are in a fix now. People are ready to wait for free doses as the government has assured them of jabs through local bodies. But the present situation has forced many to reconsider their decision. It would be better if the government subsidises the vaccine shots to improve coverage,” said Kerala Private Hospital Association (KPHA) state treasurer Dr E K Ramachandran.
HOSPS NEED TO MAKE UPFRONT PAYMENT FOR PURCHASE
It costs Rs 38 lakh for a batch of 6,000 doses and Rs 2-3 lakh for a minimum purchase of 500 doses from the private pool.
The hospitals have to make upfront payment for the purchase.
Indian Medical Association state secretary Dr Gopikumar P said the government should think of purchasing vaccines in bulk to increase the pace of vaccination.