Mumbai: Finally, private hospitals find a smooth route to vax stocks

MUMBAI: Even as public centres reel under erratic and insufficient supply of vaccines, private hospitals have been able to procure doses smoothly by placing orders directly through Co-Win since last week. Many received the stocks within 3-4 days of placing orders with the manufacturer, particularly Pune’s Serum Institute of India.

Joy Chakraborty, COO of PD Hinduja Hospital, said they managed to place orders through Co-Win last Wednesday and received doses within four days. “At this point, the new system is meeting expectations,” he said. Dr Prince Surana, CEO of Surana Group, said they placed an order for 40,000 doses on Friday and vaccines were delivered on Monday morning. “I was surprised… previously it would take weeks to a month,” he added. Orders, however, can only be placed for Covishield and Covaxin through Co-Win and not for Sputnik as yet.
The central government on June 29 released new operating protocols for private hospitals saying they cannot vaccine manufacturers directly and must place orders through Co-Win for transparency. A formula for the maximum quantity they can procure was also unveiled. The maximum would be triple their average daily consumption from one of their best performing weeks in previous months.
Last week, senior officials from the Centre held online meetings with private hospital representatives training them to use Co-Win to place orders. Prior to that, most mid-level and smaller hospitals couldn’t buy vaccines due to lack of access to manufacturers. It had also led to major groups hoarding stocks.
Some hospitals said they are still exploring the system. Zubin Pereira, medical superintendent of SRCC Children's Hospital said they have placed orders for vaccines and made the payment. “We are awaiting confirmation from the Serum Institute. We are hoping to get delivery soon since we have vaccines only for a week,” he said. Dr Sunil Agrawal, who heads Sanjeevani Hospital in Malad said they will be placing orders on Tuesday. The 100-bed hospital struggled for weeks to buy vaccines when hospitals had to contact manufacturers directly.
Dr Santosh Shetty, executive director of Kokilaben Hospital, said they intend to place fresh orders in a week’s time.
Private hospitals see an unusually high footfall when the public centres run out of doses, Chakraborty said.