Maharashtra government to buy Covid-19 vaccines directly, not wait for central supply

MUMBAI: The state government intends to procure its own Covid-19 vaccines directly and has contacted several manufacturers, said officials on Thursday. None of the government centres currently have a single dose of vaccine against the coronavirus, and even in the private sector only a limited number of facilities possess stocks.
"In order to ensure there is no shortage of precautionary doses, public health minister Tanaji Sawant has directed to actively consider the purchase of Covid vaccine as per demand, including the nasal vaccine," said Dheeraj Kumar, commissioner, National Health Mission. The official added that they are in touch with the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to understand who will be able to supply doses at the earliest.
"If we receive central supply of vaccine, it will be additional to what the Maharashtra government is considering for urgent purchase," he said.
The state has sent multiple communications to the Union health ministry regarding the supply of Covishield, Covaxin and Corbevax. Maharashtra received the last batch of Covishield on January 16 and Covaxin on February 3. Due to negligible response to vaccination at that time, those doses expired by March 31. Maharashtra along with many other states has had low or nil stock of vaccines since then.
Less than 15% of the state's eligible population has taken the precautionary dose. Dr Sachin Desai, the state immunisation officer, said vaccination rates dropped significantly in the past six months, with only a few people receiving doses on most days. While there has been a rise in cases since March, demand for vaccines has not experienced a significant upswing, though certain districts have expressed the need for additional doses, said an official.
Concerning private sector vaccine options, Pune has the highest number of vaccine choices, with almost a dozen hospitals having stocks of Covaxin, Corbevax, Covovax, and the nasal vaccine iNCOVACC. Mumbai has only two private centres offering vaccinations, Dr Alva's Diagnostic Centre and Praxis Healthcare, both using Covovax.
Rupesh Dalal, vaccination in-charge at Dr Alva's, said they were vaccinating 10-20 individuals, including children, each day. Covovax comes in 5ml vials (10 doses), which has helped the centre curtail wastage. The centre has been trying to buy more vaccines.
The majority of private hospitals here are not rushing to invest in vaccines. Dr Santosh Shetty, executive director of Kokilaben Hospital, said they had to discard thousands of vials last month due to a lack of demand. "There isn't much demand currently either, so we don't plan on buying any vaccines for now," he said.
Dr Prince Surana, CEO of Surana Group, though, said they have placed an order for 500 doses of Covovax.
A state official said that with Covishield and Covaxin not available, the state is giving priority to procuring heterologous booster doses iNCOVACC and Corbevax vaccine to cater to pending beneficiaries of booster doses.