3 pvt hospital chains say will open jabs up today; others still not sure
Anonna Dutt and Rhythma Kaul
Three large private hospital chains– Max, Apollo, and Fortis – said that they will roll-out the third phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive for everyone aged 18 and above from May 1, announcing that they have some stocks from the manufacturers directly. Other private hospitals, however, said they were unsure of whether they will receive any doses from the Delhi government.
The Delhi government, which has ordered 6.7 million doses each of Covishield and Covaxin, is likely to get its first supply by Sunday, officials said. Government hospitals, on the other hand, have not received any instruction on immunising people below the age of 45 and are unlikely to do so with the existing stock provided by the Centre, which is meant only for people in the older group.
According to a statement by Max healthcare group, four centres at Panchsheel Park, Patparganj, Shalimar Bagh and BLK hospital in Rajinder Place will begin administering Covishield from Saturday. “Max healthcare… will be starting universal vaccination drive from select hospitals in the network in NCR.
NEW DELHI:
As the supplies of the vaccine pick up all hospitals in the network will be used to vaccinate citizens,” said the group in a statement.
Everyone will have to seek an appointment on CO-WIN platform of the government for receiving the shots, according to the rules previously announced by the government.
Indraprastha Apollo hospital, as part of the group’s national vaccine roll-out, will also begin the immunisation drive in Delhi. The hospital hasn’t revealed which of the jabs will be used.
All Fortis centres across North India will roll out the drive from Saturday with Covaxin.
“Fortis will administer Covid vaccines for 18+ at its centres across North India from tomorrow. Fortis centres in other cities will commence vaccination as soon as supplies are made available by the authorities. The hospital will administer Covaxin from tomorrow at ₹1,250/dose; this includes cost of the vaccine and administration charges,” said a hospital statement.
Union government officials said some states will begin vaccinations for the under-45 adult population from May 1, but expect teething troubles. “Government guidelines clearly say those private vaccination centres that will procure vaccine doses can start vaccination. Based on the availability of vaccine doses, and the way states coordinate with vaccine manufacturers, in some states vaccinations will definitely be launched in the 18-plus category. Any new process takes time to grow and stabilise,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, Union ministry of health, during the briefing on Friday.
“The guidance tools for vaccinating 18-44 years category are being shared with the states by the central government, and we feel that once this (additional) vaccination drive commences the way it has been designed, it will stabilise gradually. When the programme was launched on January 16, there were fewer vaccination centres across the country, which increased in due course. Similarly, this will also pick up speed in coordination between the private sector, the state, and the vaccine manufacturers,” the official said.
He also said that the Centre asked the state governments to account for the vaccine doses that have been distributed to the private vaccination centres, and later start vaccination with additionally procured doses.
In government-run hospitals in Delhi, officials were unsure of when they will be able to give doses to these groups. A doctor from Delhi government-run Rajeev Gandhi Superspeciality hospital said, “We will continue vaccinating people over the age of 45 years for now. As soon as we get instructions and doses from the Delhi government, we will start immunising people between the ages 18 and 44.”
“So far, we have not received any information from the Delhi government on vaccinating those below the age of 45 years. We will continue immunising those who are 45 years and above as usual,” said a senior administrator from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), asking not to be named.
Hospitals other than the large chains have been unable to secure any doses from the vaccine manufacturers and are unsure whether they will get any from the Delhi government.
“We have contacted Serum Institute of India that has said they will be able to provide doses only after six months. Sputnik will come only in July we have been told. And, we are yet to hear from Bharat Biotech. For now, we will not be able to immunise anyone, even those who have received their first dose at the hospital. We might get doses from the Delhi government, but we haven’t received any communication to that effect,” said Dr DS Rana, chairperson, Sir Ganga Ram hospital.
All private centres have been removed from the government’s CO-WIN platform for now and are likely to be added once they get the doses, according to the hospitals.
“For now, we have to put everything on hold as there is no clarity on whether we will receive any doses from the Delhi government. From what we have heard, doses will go to government hospitals for the time being. People who have taken their first shot at our hospital will have to be referred to government hospitals for their second dose for now,” said Jasleen Kaur, general manager marketing, Indian Spinal Injury Centre.
Experts believe that not vaccinating everyone over the age of 18 years might lead to disproportionate number of severe infections among young people.
“The number of vaccinations has already gone down – maybe because of the lockdown, or because people have seen news about others getting the infection even after vaccination (what they do not realise is that the infection is mild), or because they think they might get the infection from the vaccination centres. This will further endanger people below the age of 45 years, who are completely unvaccinated and are getting severe disease during the second wave,” said Dr Anoop Mishra, chairman of Fortis Centre for Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol.