Punjab reverses order to sell jabs to pvt hospitals

CENTRE TOO HAS SOUGHT THE PUNJAB GOVT’S RESPONSE ON THE CONTROVERSIAL SCHEME

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Friday ordered that all Covid-19 vaccines sold to private hospitals by it under a controversial scheme be returned and the state health minister ordered an investigation, a move that came after widespread criticism from opposition leaders who alleged the government was making profits by selling doses. The central government, too, sought the state’s clarification on the scheme.

In its order, the Congress-led Punjab government said it was revoking the “one-time” move to provide vaccines to private medical facilities.

“The order of providing onetime limited vaccine dose to 18-44 years age group population through private hospitals has not been taken in the right spirit and is hereby withdrawn,” the government note said, adding that the amount paid by the medical facilities will be refunded to them.

“Further, it has been decided that the private hospitals should return forthwith all the vaccine doses available with them,” IAS officer Vikas Garg, in charge of Punjab’s Covid vaccination programme, said in the order.

On Thursday, HT first reported that the state government was selling Covaxin shots -- bought for ₹400 a dose -- to private hospitals for around ₹1,060 a dose, citing officials directly involved in the matter. Some of the private hospitals were administering the vaccine for around ₹1,500 per dose, according to information from several facilities.

So far, 80,000 doses have been sold to private facilities, 30,000 of which went to a single hospital in Mohali, a government official said, requesting anonymity. State health authorities earlier said it was a “onetime measure” to boost vaccinations.

According to norms set by the central government, states and private hospitals are permitted to directly procure coronavirus shots for the 18-45 age group from vaccine-makers at specific rates. Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech sells the vaccine to states for ₹400/dose to states and ₹1,200/dose to private hospitals.

There is no provision for states to sell vaccines to private hospitals under the current vaccination policy.

On Friday, the Union health ministry sought the Punjab government’s response and said the move was in violation of the pricing policy.

“As you are aware, from May 1, 2021, the Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy has come into force. According to this strategy, private sector hospitals are directly procuring COVID-l9 vaccines from the vaccine manufacturers,” Vandana Gurnani, additional secretary in the Union health ministry, said in a letter to the state government.

Opposition parties demanded an inquiry and sought the state health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu’s resignation, calling the incident a “scam”.

“The health minister should resign immediately. He cannot escape responsibility,” Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Friday. Union minister Prakash Javadekar hit out at the government for “profiteering” and BJP’s Anurag Thakur alleged the administration was “looting people” during a pandemic. The Aam Aadmi Party called it a “vaccine scam”, with party leader Raghav Chadha saying it ran into “thousands of crores”.

The Punjab health minister sought to distance his department from the issue and said the government was launching an inquiry. “I was not aware about it at all as the vaccination procurement is done by officers who don’t belong to my department. However, sometimes people take wrong decisions. It has now been withdrawn,” Sidhu said.