India’s precautionary dose vaccination, for ages 18 and above, took off on Sunday although some hospital chains postponed inoculations to Monday.
Chains such as Apollo (in Delhi and Kolkata), AMRI (in Kolkata), Fortis, Max Healthcare said booster jabs would be administered Monday onwards.
While logistics issues and short staffing were cited as a reason, the sudden announcement to open up booster dosage (in a span of two days) also hit hospitals’ planning across cities such as New Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
Some were also awaiting clarity on price revisions till late on Saturday, particularly on how their older stocks (purchased at higher government sanctioned rates) would be disposed, which apparently delayed the rollout.
A spokesperson from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, told BusinessLine, “The roll out of precautionary dose of Covid-19 vaccine for the 18+ population starts from April 11. Both, Covaxin and Covishield shall be available for the people under this age bracket.”
Meanwhile, Shalby Multispecialty Hospitals – Ahmedabad, which started vaccination in one of its sites “for only a few hours in the morning”, said it was expecting turnout to increase in the coming days. “We started vaccination at one of our sites for only few hours in the morning and full-fledged vaccinations will begin from tomorrow as we get more clarity about the pricing,” said Hardik Thakker, AVP, Shalby Multispecialty Hospitals-Ahmedabad.
Booster dosages for all adults – post completion of nine months of their second dose - are available only through private hospitals only.
Rupak Baruah, Group CEO of AMRI Hospitals, said it has inoculated over 1.25 lakh beneficiaries since January 2021. “We will start booster dose inoculation of the concerned age group from Monday. At AMRI, the dose will cost ₹380,” he said.
Hospitals though are not concerned about stocks.
Meanwhile, vaccine makers – Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech – will compensate (private hospitals) for the price difference for unexpired stocks in the form of free vials of fresh stocks.
On Saturday, prices were slashed to ₹225 per dose for both Covishield and Covaxin (down from ₹600 and ₹1,200 respectively).
“As per direction of Adar C Poonawalla, we want to inform you that we will compensate the price difference for the current unexpired stocks lying with private Covid vaccination centres,” a communication to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry reportedly said. So, the price difference between ₹600 plus GST and SII’s recent price of ₹225 plus GST would be compensated in the form of free vials of the fresh stocks of Covishield, it is being understood.
Bharat Biotech had on Saturday evening announced its stock compensation policy.
AMRI’s Barua, who is also the President of Associations of Hospitals of Eastern India, said, hospitals in the region have been assured of compensation and the government has apprised them on the matter.
“We hope that the reduced price will also ensure that unlike the poor footfall at CVCs since November 2021, people who are eligible for the cautionary dose will opt for it to properly safeguard themselves,” he said.