Foreign-bound beneficiaries in a fix over booster dose

Nagpur: Though the government has reduced waiting period for the precaution dose to less than nine months, foreign-bound students and others are unable to get the jab in the district.
While paid jabs are not easily available for beneficiaries below 60 years of age, local government centres say they are yet to receive guidelines from the Union health ministry on allowing the precaution dose before nine months of taking the second dose. On the other hand, some private centres have managed to give the precaution dose before the nine-month gap.
Last week, a retired top government officer nearly missed his flight to a foreign destination after failing to find a paid vaccination centre for his family members in the district. The retired officer had taken the booster dose at a government centre, but could not find one for his wife and son, who are not eligible for the free of cost jab.
The hospital where he had taken first and second doses told him that it was not ordering fresh stock anytime soon.
“Vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) is insisting on a minimum order of 5,000 vials worth Rs25 lakh,” the hospital told TOI, adding the number of foreign-bound beneficiaries may not allow consumption of such high number of doses. Thus, to prevent further losses like earlier, hospitals are carefully moving on the procurement front, it said.
The former official finally got two booster jabs at a private hospital, which had arranged a few doses from Mumbai. “The family was going to the US where booster jab is not a pre-requisite to enter the country. They needed the booster jab certificate for another country (transit point) which has made it a must. We shall issue them a certificate in June,” the hospital said.
On Monday, Radiance Hospital helped a couple of other private hospitals where beneficiaries were demanding booster doses. “We spared a couple of vials for some hospitals on purchase rate as their patrons were demanding it. We have 500 doses as of now. As vaccination policies are revised frequently, we are unable to make a long-term commitment. We have tied up with some hospitals in Mumbai and Pune. One of them is placing the order and the smaller quantity is then distributed among us,” said Dr Manoj Purohit, director of Radiance.
Another private hospital said it was planning to seek smaller quantity of vials against payment from the civic body as per demand. “As the gap has been reduced, we are seeing a rush of foreign-bound travellers seeking booster dose. If the civic body or public health department can provide us these doses against payment, citizens will not have to run from pillar to post. We are not planning any major procurement,” an official of the hospital said.
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Vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) is insisting on a minimum order of 5,000 vials worth Rs25 lakh. The number of foreign-bound beneficiaries may not allow consumption of such high number of doses
A private hospital