India Inc’s wait to vaccinate staff gets longer
MUMBAI: Prashant V, 42, a senior executive with an infrastructure services company in Mumbai, has been spending at least 30 minutes a day on the Cowin portal. So far, his pursuit of a vaccination slot has not yielded the desired results.
This frustrating waste of time, Prashant says, could have been avoided had his company been able to secure the vaccines for its staff, as was the plan. But the scarcity of jabs meant the plan was a complete non-starter. His company has now asked employees to get vaccinated on their own as soon as they can.
In March, many companies announced immunisation plans for staff and their dependents. But nearly three months on, there is little progress.
“Vaccine availability is being checked regularly with government authorities for employee vaccination in mass. We have made an application through Ficci as well, and our personnel are in touch with government officials for getting it done at the company premises. No confirmation has been received as of now. Our target is to conduct the vaccination drive as soon as possible,” said Sanjay S Math, managing director, Finolex Industries Ltd.
Finolex has been able to provide vaccination support to over 700 employees so far against the 3,200 people that it plans to vaccinate.
While India has allowed vaccine eligibility to all adults since May 1, many eligible recipients in the above-45 age group are yet to receive their second shot.
Companies say they have tied up with private hospitals and roped in e-pharmacies to vaccinate their employees; but since these entities have not received any quota of vaccines so far, there is a delay in getting employees vaccinated, thereby increasing their risk of getting infected.
“Taking into account the rapid spread of the virus, we are ramping up our efforts to support our employees. As getting the jab is a purely voluntary exercise, we are encouraging our employees through multiple awareness campaigns and communications to get themselves and their families vaccinated, at the earliest,” said Anshu Budhraja, CEO, Amway India. Amway has set aside ₹40 lakh to inoculate its employees.
At Geojit Financial Services, only a few employees have received their first doses. “Availability of vaccines has undeniably been a hurdle that we are trying to overcome by keeping a close tab on instructions that authorities keep updating us about,” said Kamal Mampilly, chief of human resources at Geojit Financial Services.
According to a May 7 report by HSBC, India’s daily vaccination rate has declined from over 3.5 million doses in April to just over 2 million in the past week as India has faced supply and administrative constraints in inoculating its population.
“The slowing administration of vaccines prolongs the timeline for herd immunity,” said HSBC.