Govt seeks equitable allocation of vaccine doses at pvt centres
MINISTRY WANTS THE STATES TO GET A SENSE OF THE DEMAND AND COME UP WITH AN ALLOTMENT MECHANISM – OR LET CENTRE DO IT
NEW DELHI: States should collate the demand for coronavirus vaccine doses in private vaccination centres in their region and either coordinate the procurement of doses themselves or let the Centre do it, the Union health ministry has suggested -- a move aimed at ensuring that the administration of doses by private hospitals and centres is equitable across the country.
Currently, it is skewed in favour of the large cities, especially metros, with most of the allotment being monopolised by large hospital chains.
Officials admitted that doses through this channel have not been allocated equitably since big private hospital chains are seen to have been able to corner the bulk of the quota under this mechanism, and states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Assam have lost out since they have fewer private hospitals than others. Now, the Union ministry wants the states to come up with an allotment mechanism – or let the Centre do it.
“There are two options available with the states and Union territories: the first one is to aggregate the demand and facilitate procurement from companies; the second is to aggregate the demand and let the government of India facilitate procurement,” said an official aware of the matter on condition of anonymity.
Last week, the Centre changed its vaccine policy and said it would once again be in charge of sourcing vaccines and allocating them to the states (the policy before May 1, when it allowed states to procure directly from suppliers). Of the total vaccines available, 75% are to be reserved for this, with the remaining 25% available to the private sector (the 25% for the sector was also a change introduced starting May 1). The new policy is to start from June 21, until which, the current policy (50% sourced and allocated by the Centre, for 45+ age group; 25% sourced by states, for 18-44 age group; 25% sourced by private hospitals) will continue.
As per the CO-WIN dashboard, of the 36,116 sites conducting Covid vaccination, 1,587, or 4% , are in the private sector.
The new mechanism does not mean there will be a change in the purchase mechanism – private hospitals will still need to strike direct deals with the vaccine makers.
A report in the Times of India on Saturday said the distribution and allocation of Covid vaccines for private hospitals will be divided among states in proportion to their populations.
A second official, who asked not to be named, said the communication to this effect sent out by the Centre was in the nature of a recommendation and the final decision rests with the state governments. “The advice is based on the disparity that was seen between bigger cities and private hospitals and tier-2/3 cities and rural areas, and smaller hospitals...,” this person added.
According to a June 4 Union health ministry statement, in May, a total of 74 million (7.4 crore) doses were available for vaccination. “Of these, about 18.5 million (1.85 crore) doses were earmarked for procurement by the private hospitals. The private hospitals have been able to procure 12.9 million (1.29 crore) doses in the month , of which they administered 2.2 million (22 lakh) doses.”
As per CO-WIN dashboard, as of Saturday, close to 249 million doses have been administered across the country.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At least a dozen Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers in Lakshadweep have resigned from the party to protest the sedition case filed against filmmaker Aisha Sultana for her remarks against the Centre’s Covid-19 management in the Union territory.
In the resignation letter submitted to the BJP’S Lakshadweep president, C Abdul Khader Haji, the leaders slammed the sedition charges. “You have filed a false and unjustified complaint against Sultana who pointed out undemocratic actions of the administrator... this is not in the right spirit of the island,” said one of the signatories of the letter, Abdul Hameed Mullipuzha, who is the general secretary of the party’s Kavaratti unit.
“We can’t go ahead like this. I am resigning from the party,” said B C Cheriya Koya, president of the Andrott unit.
On June 10, the Lakshadweep police registered a sedition case against Sultana for allegedly calling the Union territory’s administrator, Praful Khoda Patel, a “bio-weapon” launched by the Centre during a TV discussion amid anger in the region over new rules introduced by Patel, which many say threaten the livelihoods of islanders.
BJP national vice-president, A P Abdullah Kutty, underplayed the resignations, saying: “Most of them have quit much early. They are raking up their resignations repeatedly to get attention. The party is intact in the island.”