Will the price cap on vaccination by private hospitals apply to off-site camps as well?

The Rs 150 cap on vaccination in private hospitals may not apply to off-site camps organised by them, a Times of India report quoted a government official as saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Monday, overhauled the vaccination policy taking control of the procurement that was earlier delegated to the states. The service charge that private hospitals levied was also capped at Rs 150.

Private hospitals organise off-site vaccination camps in collaboration with corporates and residential housing societies.

Private hospitals have said that they may not be able to organise off-site camps within the cap that has been placed, according to the report.

"These are extraordinary circumstances and need extraordinary steps. While for hospitals, it should not be a matter of profitability, they would also not pay from their pocket. For vaccination within the hospital, Rs 150 as service charge should meet the costs. However, there are overhead costs for organising off-site sessions," the ToI report quoted Commander Navneet Bali, Regional Director, Northern India, Narayana Health, as saying.

The government has notified that private hospitals will charge Rs 780 for a shot of Covishield, Rs 1,410 for Covaxin and Rs 1,145 for Sputnik V.