New vaccine regime: West Bengal to act as mediator, private hospitals wait & watch

KOLKATA: After the central government announced that it will procure vaccines and distribute 25% of the share to private hospitals through the state from June 21, Bengal health department held a meeting on Wednesday and informed private hospitals that they will now act as the mediator for procuring vaccines on their behalf. The private health facilities were also told to send in their vaccine requirement along with their existing stock position.
Senior state health officials met central health ministry officials on Thursday where the former were briefed on how to go about streamlining the procurement from manufacturers and the subsequent supply modalities to private hospitals.
“Some private hospitals have already started sending in their requirements. The state is mediating as a aggregator for vaccine procurement for private hospitals to ensure a smooth supply chain and equitable distribution between large corporate hospitals and smaller health units. Many smaller nursing homes and clinics had been unable to purchase their doses directly from the manufacturers. This new policy should be helping them as well,” said a senior health official.
AMRI Hospitals CEO Rupak Barua agreed. “This should ensure more equitable and fair distribution of vaccines. Small nursing homes and private CVCs have often been struggling to procure doses. We, too, have been affected ever since we were asked to purchases vaccines from the manufacturers. With the central government now procuring vaccines from manufacturers and the state government acting as the aggregator, we believe we will get our share at the right time,” said AMRI Hospitals CEO Rupak Barua.
“We have already provided all the details that had been sought — number of vaccines we procure, the number of our centres, daily consumption and the rest. Even though there is no additional convenience for us in this new arrangement, we hope that there will be no further shortage of vaccine,” added Barua, also the president of the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI).
Peerless Hospital, which will resume vaccination with its purchased stock on Monday, said the new arrangement will bring relief to all private CVCs. “The onus will now be on the government to ensure supply. We were asked to provide details of our requirement which we have already done. For July, we have sought 20,000 doses and hope to get it,” said Peerless Hospital CEO Sudipta Mitra.
A private hospital head, however, added that it’s still not clear who will receive the payment. “State officials are probably working it out for we haven’t been told yet,” he said.
The new reforms may help states get hassle-free vaccine supply, according to RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) zonal head R Venkatesh. “All private hospitals will have the opportunity of getting vaccines with support from the state government,” he said.