Private Hospitals In Bengaluru Are Giving Away Vaccination Shots For Free

Private hospitals are holding free Covishield and Covaxin centres in an attempt to clear and utilizes the remaining vaccine stock before it got expired and got wasted. One such camp was held at Banashankari's Re-Life Hospital from December 1 to 5, during which beneficiaries were given both Covishield and Covaxin.

Dr. H M Prasanna, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), stated Covaxin producer Bharat Biotech's promise to revalidate their stock by re-labelling the vials with a year-long expiration date. But the issue is if the equities are still unsold after six months, the hospitals can't ask for a repurchase. He added that private hospitals, who have been left with six lakh Covaxin doses, are dissatisfied with the situation and are searching for other options to unload their stock.

According to Sparsh Hospital's Director of Strategy Guruprasad B R, will expire in February, the hospital's Covishield supply. Guruprasad explained that Covishield has a nine-month shelf life. They have 45,000 Covishield dosages and 12,000 Covaxin doses on hand. Bharat Biotech has informed us that a representative from the company will visit us to re-label the vials with the new expiration date. They don't want us to carry the vials to them because the cold chain must be maintained.

Guruprasad added that though the hospital contacted the Serum Institute of India regarding the waiting stock, no response has been received. Pharma businesses usually either provide new stock or issue a credit note. They tried to hold free vaccination clinics for the impoverished in the hopes of depleting the stock, but hardly one showed up to be vaccinated. Despite NGOs are willing to fund the Rs 780 per dosage of Covishield required, no one is willing to receive the vaccine. They gave up service charges, interest, and margins to sell 300 to 400 vials to a lesser unit.

Furthermore, the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI), a statewide private hospital association with 12,000 members that met with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on November 16, is reminding the minister to follow through on his pledge to export the pending stock.

The first batch of Covishield is slated to expire in February, according to AHPI national president Dr. Alexander Thomas. He said that the private sector still has 50 lakh dosages of both brands.

Dr. Deepak Balani, the chief of medical services at Sakra World Hospital, remarked that vaccine uptake is still low, with about 20-25 doses administered per day. He revealed that the hospital has 8,000 to 10,000 doses of both Covaxin and Covishield. They did a number of vaccination drives in the neighbouring complexes and corporate houses, but demand fizzled out because free vaccines are available everywhere. The BBMP provided a lengthy list of patients who required a second treatment. They were calling to check whether they were available.

Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech issued a public statement claiming that its 28-day open vial policy would therefore help to significantly lower wastage and its one-year extended expiry date will help with vaccine consumption.