Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd to buy 20 lakh vaccine doses

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has given permission to Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) to procure 20 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine from Serum Institute of India (SII) for distribution through private hospitals.
The cost of the vaccines, which will arrive in two batches of 10 lakh shots each, shall be charged from the hospitals. The government has been promoting partnership with private hospitals and KMSCL MD has been authorised as the aggregator to facilitate vaccine procurement by private hospitals.
The agency has been interacting with the hospitals and has assessed the demand of vaccines for the month of August at around 18.18 lakh doses. It then requested the government to grant Rs 126 crore for the advance payment to Serum Institute Life Science Private Limited. Funds from the chief minister’s distress relief fund (CMDRF) will be used for the vaccine procurement. CMDRF has so far received Rs 775.48 crore through donations from the public under Covid-19 head.
Health minister Veena George informed that the state has received as many as 5, 11, 080 doses of vaccine on Tuesday. This includes 2, 91, 080 doses of Covishield and 2, 20, 000 doses of Covaxin. The doses have been received at Thiruvananthapuram (98,560 Covishield doses and 74,500 Covaxin doses), Ernakulam (1,14,590 Covishield doses and 86,500 Covaxin doses) and Kozhikode (77,930 Covishield doses and 59,000 Covaxin doses).
As many as 95, 308 persons have been administered the vaccine on Tuesday at 411 government centres and 333 private centres. Till date, the state has administered the first dose of vaccine to 44.88% persons and both the doses to 18.35% persons.
The government has prepared a detailed three-pronged plan for vaccination drive, under the supervision of the district collectors who would coordinate with other departments and the civil society members. Under the first campaign, all elderly persons 60 years and above who have not yet received the first dose will be covered before August 15. Under the second drive, all bedridden patients above 18 years will be identified and vaccinated, again by August 15. Mobile vaccination units will be deployed.
In the campaign’s third part, depending on the availability of vaccines, vaccination for the remaining segments will be planned and conducted. The focus is on reducing the number of vulnerable people ensuring first dose to them, as the rate of fatality is more among the people with comorbidities.