New Delhi: The private sector is lobbying with the government to allow covid-19 vaccine sale in open market, with price regulation. The rationale being offered is the slow rate of vaccination in India.
Stakeholders from the private sector have reached out to the union health minister Harsh Vardhan amid the government's decision to conduct the covid-19 inoculation program under a public private partnership (PPP) model.
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The representatives said the US had begun vaccination from 10 December, 2020 whereas India started it on 16 January, 2021. India did the first 7-million doses in 26 days while US took 27 days.
Thereafter US has averaged more than 1-million per day whereas India is doing less than 0.3 million per day, the private sector has argued, according to senior officials in the health ministry. There has been hesitancy among health care workers and frontline workers for vaccination, which has slowed down the pace.
“This should not retard our effort to vaccinate rest of the population. It is therefore time that we fast track bringing in 50+ group. The private sector hospitals should be roped in full capacity in vaccination drive," said Girdhar J. Gyani, director general, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) (AHPI), which has recently submitted a proposal to the Union health ministry. “Government may also consider facilitating paid vaccinations by those who can afford it, without compromising any sections of society," he said.
The AHPI suggested PSUs may decide to vaccinate their employees at cost, while corporate companies, educational institutes, banks etc could follow suit. This will enable big boost to vaccinate and also reduce economic burden on the government.
“While we utilise private sector infrastructure to deliver vaccination as per government scheme, there is opportunity to jack up vaccination through open market. Government may allow vaccine to be procured by designated big private hospitals and deliver to institutional clients at regulated cost," said Gyani.
The high-level taskforce on covid-19 vaccines, constituted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the apex trade association and advocacy group, has also suggested that private providers be allowed to vaccinate and the vaccines should be sold in open market.
As all vaccines have a finite period of longevity and the matter of possible expiry of many of these is of national concern, the CII recommended that all stakeholders must contribute in a manner that all vaccines available in the country are well utilised and well in time.
“By opening the vaccination process to private sector, the large cohort of those willing to take the vaccines would enable full utilization of the vaccines within the expiry period," said TV Narendran, president designate chairman of CII Vaccine Task Force.
Currently, the India private healthcare manages over 60% of the total patients, while government manages the rest.
“The government should allow sales of covid-19 vaccines in open market as anyway the private sector has more outreach to people. If, they want to cover more people with vaccines, private selling of vaccines should be allowed. The government fully aims to regulate the prices of vaccines as it has been doing for treatment and tests of RT PCR prices," said Alok Roy, chair, FICCI Health Committee and Chairman Medica Group of Hospitals.
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