Booster dose revives vax drive at private hospitals

Nagpur: The onset of third Covid wave and roll-out of booster dose has revived to some extent the vaccination drive at private hospitals, which were facing vaccine wastage and financial losses. The drive at private hospitals had lost steam after the government offered free doses to all age groups and local bodies started multiple centres and special drives last year.
In just five days, some private hospitals have utilized all their existing stock and are now borrowing vaccine vials from each other as per demand. Many private hospitals had discontinued the drive while others had dropped plans to place vaccine orders when footfall dried up.
Dr BK Murali, director of Hope and Ayushman hospitals, said beneficiaries are walking in from different parts of the district. “Some of them are fearful of the new Omicron variant. We have exhausted our vaccine stock and are utilizing that available with other private hospitals as of now,” he said.
Dr Ashish Chandra, chief executive officer of Kingsway Hospitals, agreed that revival of vaccination drive may be on the cards. “Those who had taken their first and second doses at private hospitals may want to prefer the same centre for booster dose too. This way, we are reaching out to them. There is some improvement but it is not along expected lines. As of now, we have 2,500 doses which are sufficient for 10-15 days. We will take a call on new stock order after 10 days,” he said.
Dr Chandra added that the vaccination for 15 to 18 age group hadn’t picked up as schools and parents were preferring government drives to get their kids jabbed.
Dr Anup Marar, convenor of Vidarbha Hospital Association (VHA), said the vaccination drive was underway at its regular slow pace. “It is mostly booster shots as of now. Most frontline workers and senior citizens are availing the free vaccination facility in government centres,” he said.
Dr Marar, who is also director of Orange City Hospital & Research Institute, which too is running a drive, said many hospitals went an extra mile by joining hands with organisations to exhaust their stock. “They even reduced rates below the government-proposed tariff,” he said.
Dr Marar added that many hospitals were worried about the expiry of stocked vaccines leading to huge losses, not only to them but also to the nation. “Having burnt their fingers with this initiative, private hospitals will think twice before jumping into such projects henceforth,” he said.