Karnataka used only 50% vax doses allotted to private hospitals

BENGALURU: While the Karnataka government is scrambling to a bigger supply of Covid vaccine doses, nearly eight lakh doses allocated to private hospitals in the state could not be accessed in July. The reason: Private hospitals raised indents for only 7.2 lakh doses as against an allocation of 15 lakh doses.
Of the 60 lakh doses allocated to Karnataka by the Centre in July, 25% was for private hospitals. The 7.8 lakh doses that private hospitals did not collect lapsed. There is no clarity on whether doses under private hospital quota can be diverted to the state government. Besides, pricing is also an issue since private hospitals pay more than what the government pays.
Private hospitals pay manufacturers Rs 630 per dose of Covishield and Rs 1,200 for one dose of Covaxin, whereas the Centre procures the doses for Rs 205 and Rs 215 respectively.
“We are not able to access the state’s allocation under private hospitals’ category,” said Dr Arundhathi Chandrashekar, mission director, National Health Mission, Karnataka. “Private hospitals raised indents for 7.2 lakh doses and the remaining 7.8 lakh doses lapsed.”
There are concerns that a huge portion of the private hospital quota for August may go unused too. As of now, Karnataka has been allocated 60 lakh doses for the month, of which 15 lakh doses is under private hospital quota.
Private hospitals say they have not yet been reimbursed Rs 16 lakh for doses they had returned to the government on May 1. The state government supplied vaccines to private hospitals till April 30 and it was suddenly stopped from May 1. Private hospitals were asked to return unused doses and while they complied, the government is yet to reimburse the money private hospitals paid for the doses.
Confusing policy changes
While state health department officials say it is regrettable that the state cannot access 100% of its allocation although there is an acute shortage of supply, many private hospitals have given up efforts to secure doses, thanks to multiple changes in the procurement process.
They also say the government is supplying doses when there is no demand for it in private hospitals, possibly due to the high cost.
“Private hospitals are in fact worried vaccines would expire,” said Dr HM Prasanna, president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA). “On weekdays, there is hardly any demand in most private hospitals in Bengaluru. Either people who can afford it have already taken the jab or they are going to government facilities where it is free.”
At Pristine Hospitals near Rajajinagar, Bengaluru, for instance, of the 5,000 doses that the hospital has, only one vial of 10 doses was used in the past one week. PHANA members said private hospitals had pleaded for doses when vaccine-seekers were making a beeline to get the shot, but the state abruptly stopped supplies then.
“In March, there was a system in place where private hospitals bought doses directly from the state government,” Dr Prasanna said. “This process was stopped in May. Demand was high then, but a majority of private hospitals did not have doses. Had the government continued with the system, vaccination coverage would have increased significantly.”
Poor footfall
PHANA members said demand for Covishield will increase in August and September, when many in the 18-44 years group will be eligible to take the second dose.
A corporate hospital in Bengaluru that began administering doses in May said footfall is decent only on weekends. With the government providing doses for free for all above 45 years and those in priority groups in the 18-44 years’ age group, people are opting for the free dose, authorities said.
The government has reached out to corporate companies and industries in a bid to ensure vaccines procured by private hospitals could be used for vaccination drives. “Companies tell us that their CSR funds are exhausted for other Covid-related activities like establishing oxygen plants,” said Dr Arundhati.