PremiumCentral government will provide free of cost covid-19 vaccine doses to the States/UTs deciding the allocation on the basis of criteria such as population, disease burden and the progress of vaccination, union health ministry said in the revised guidelines for national COVID vaccination program issued on Tuesday. While the centre has been noting the covid-19 vaccine wastage as high as 37% in some states, the government has said that the wastage of vaccines will affect the allocation negatively.
The guidelines follow prime minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on Monday evening on shift from the government’s Liberalized and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination that started from 1st May 2021 wherein the central government will now buy 75% of the total production of the vaccine manufacturers and provide to the states free of cost. Also, the central government will bear the cost of vaccination of all citizens except for those choosing vaccination in private vaccination centres.
In order to incentivize production by vaccine manufacturers and encourage new vaccines, domestic vaccine manufacturers are given the option to also provide vaccines directly to private hospitals. This would be restricted to 25% of their monthly production, the government said.
“States/UTs would aggregate the demand of private hospitals keeping in view equitable distribution between large and small private hospitals and regional balance. Based on this aggregated demand, Government of India will facilitate supply of these vaccines to the private hospitals and their payment through the National Health Authority’s electronic platform. This would enable the smaller and remoter private hospitals to obtain timely supply of vaccines, and further equitable access and regional balance," the guidelines said.
“The price of vaccine doses for private hospitals would be declared by each vaccine manufacturer, and any subsequent changes would be notified in advance. The private hospitals may charge up to a maximum of ₹150 per dose as service charges. State Governments may monitor the price being so charged," it further said. All citizens irrespective of their income status are entitled to free vaccination. Those who have the ability to pay are encouraged to use private hospital’s vaccination centres.
To promote the spirit of “Lok Kalyan", use of non-transferable Electronic Vouchers which can be redeemed at private vaccination centers, will be encouraged. This would enable people to financially support vaccination of Economically Weaker Sections at private vaccination centres.
Starting May 1st until now the centre was procuring 50% of the vaccines produced and providing them to States free of cost for administering to priority groups. The State Government and private hospitals were also empowered to directly procure from the remaining 50% vaccine pool.
“Many States have however now communicated that they are facing difficulties in managing the funding, procurement and logistics of vaccines, impacting the pace of the National COVID Vaccination Program. It has also been noted that smaller and remoter private hospitals are also facing constraints," the revised guidelines said.
“Keeping in view the aforesaid aspects, the experiences gained from 1st May 2021 and the repeated requests received from States, the Guidelines for National COVID Vaccination Program have been reviewed and revised" it said.
The government said that the vaccination will continue to be prioritized in the order of ---Health Care Workers, Front Line Workers, Citizens more than 45 years of age o Citizens whose second dose has become due, Citizens 18 years and above. Within the population group of citizens more than 18 years of age, States/UTs may decide their own prioritization factoring in the vaccine supply schedule, the union health ministry said.
“Government of India will provide States/UTs advance information of vaccine doses to be supplied to them. States/UTs should similarly, further allocate doses well in advance to districts and vaccination centers. They should also put in the public domain the information about the above availability at district and vaccination center level, and widely disseminate it among the local population, maximizing the visibility and convenience of citizens," said the guidelines.
The CoWIN platform provides every citizen the facility of conveniently and safely pre-booking vaccination appointments. All government and private vaccination centers would also provide onsite registration facility, available both for individuals as well as groups of individuals, for which detailed procedure is to be finalized and published by States/UTs, in order to minimize any inconvenience to citizens," the government said.
According to the fresh guidelines, the States may also optimally utilize the Common Service Centres and Call Centres to facilitate prior booking by citizens. The above revised program provides States/UTs with additional central government support across funding, procurement and logistics. It also facilitates scientific prioritization, wider access, harnessing of private sector capacity and flexibility at the state and local level. The revised guidelines will come into effect from 21st June 2021 and will be reviewed from time to time, the union health ministry said.
The new guidelines issued by the govt on vaccine procurement and supply have incorporated the suggestions of the private sector. “Not only were smaller hospitals and nursing homes facing problems in purchasing the doses directly from the manufacturers, but their inability to pay huge amount of money weeks in advance was also a constraint. Now the govt would be responsible for aggregation of demand, procurement and supply and the hospitals would pay for the vaccines through the national health authority (NHA) system, thus reducing working capital requirements and other logistical issues," Dr Harsh Mahajan, President, NATHEALTH, healthcare federation of India.
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