The Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya said the pace of vaccination across the country is amongst the fastest in the world. (Representative image)

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on August 4 said the government can tap into the 25 percent COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity reserved for the private sector.

Mandaviya, while responding to queries on COVID vaccines by MPs in Parliament, has said it is not necessary now for vaccine manufacturers to keep 25 percent of vaccines for the private sector and only give that much as they (private hospitals) buy.

He said rest can be supplied to the government and private hospitals.

Mandaviya added that only 7-9 percent vaccine quota is being used by private hospitals.

Messages sent to Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech seeking comment on the health minister’s statement remain unanswered at the time of publishing the story.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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The government on August 4 said it has provided 50.37 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine to states and Union Territories. It said that more than 2.6 crore balance and unutilised doses are still available with states and UTs and private hospitals to be administered. India so far consumed 48.2 crore doses, including wastage.

Waiting for free jabs

The current vaccination speed of 4 million isn't enough for a full economic recovery, but blaming the private hospitals isn’t correct, says Dr Alok Roy, Chairman of Kolkata-based Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

“I am sitting on 5 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Kolkata; hardly any people, while the government vaccination centres are always crowded, and sometimes running out of supplies,” Roy said.

“People are preferring to wait and get free jabs instead of paying from their pockets. The government allowed this to enable vaccine manufacturers to make some money, but this isn’t working,” Roy added.

Roy who is also the chair of FICCI Health Services Committee, welcomed the government's plan to buy the 25 percent quota allotted to the private sector, saying that the public should benefit. He said that with exception of a few corporates, many haven’t deployed their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for COVID vaccination.

Lack of transparency

However, there is criticism that there was no data on the number of doses procured by the private hospitals. Top officials of the government are hinting that several private vaccination centres had not placed orders for the 25 percent earmarked for them.

Of the 47,979 sites conducting vaccination, as many as 2,485 are run by private hospitals and clinics.

Is govt going back on vaccine policy by tapping into 25% jabs reserved for private hospitals?

The Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya said the pace of vaccination across the country is amongst the fastest in the world. (Representative image)

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