Pune: Hospitals hold or reduce Sputnik V purchases citing service charge cap

PUNE: A few private hospitals in the city, citing cold storage costs and the cap on perdose service charge, have now put on hold their Sputnik V purchases or reduced procurement volumes.
The Centre has said private hospitals cannot charge more than Rs 780 for a shot of Covishield; Rs 1,410 for Covaxin; and Rs 1,145 for Sputnik V. The per dose prices include taxes and the capped service charge of Rs 150.
“We have put Sputnik V purchase on hold. Cold storage requirements and other expenses exceed the service cap of Rs 150,” said Jitendra Oswal, deputy medical director, Bharati Hospital. Before the service charge cap, Bharati had planned to procure 5,000 doses.
Noble Hospital in Hadapsar — one of Sputnik’s trial sites in India — has drastically cut procurement. “Before the service charge cap, we had ordered 50,000 Sputnik V doses. We have now decided to cut that order to 5,000 doses. The storage and logistical costs have rendered the exercise unviable, even if we try to provide the vaccine on no-profit, no-loss basis,” said H K Sale, executive director of Noble Hospital.
Two more large hospitals in the city — Ruby Hall Clinic and Jehangir Hospital — are also not thinking of procuring Sputnik V.
“A per-dose service charge of Rs 150 is not at all financially viable for us. Hospitals’ core responsibilities are medical care and not vaccination, which is the government’s responsibility. We have been helping out with the vaccination programme,” said Bomi Bhote, CEO of Ruby Hall Clinic.
Vinod Sawantwadkar, CEO of Jehangir Hospital said, “The Rs 150 cap is a setback in attempts to push the vaccine drive forward. We need to be conservative as economics matters for private players.”