After price cut, Delhi hospitals unlikely to roll out booster dose today

Max healthcare is one of the few hospitals which will begin the drive for precautionary doses in all adults on Sunday at its Gurgaon hospital. Manipal hospital has also stated that the drive will begin at its Dwarka and Gurgaon centres.

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The Centre opened up the vaccination drive for a third dose for all adults starting Sunday. Archive

With the makers of the two most commonly used vaccines in the country’s Covid immunisation drive slashing the cost of precautionary doses, most city hospitals have refrained from opening the drive on Sunday. Both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India on Saturday afternoon announced that the vaccine would be made available to private hospitals at Rs 225, down from Rs 600 for Covishield and Rs 1,200 for Covaxin.

The Centre opened up the vaccination drive for a third precautionary dose for all adults, but only at private centres.

Max healthcare is one of the few hospitals which will begin the drive for precautionary doses in all adults on Sunday at its Gurgaon hospital. Manipal hospital has also stated that the drive will begin at its Dwarka and Gurgaon centres.

Also Read | Fewer tests behind slight increase in Delhi’s positivity rate

With hospitals having procured the vaccines at the previous rates, offering lowered prices from Sunday onwards, they said, would be a challenge. Most hospitals did not want to join the drive on Sunday, still awaiting clarity on the prices to be charged for the doses.

“As of now, we have not received any communication from the authorities or the vaccine makers on the process for receiving and administering precautionary doses to people above the age of 18, or on the new cost. The vaccine stock that we are currently holding was purchased at the previously approved government prices. We will resume the vaccinations as soon as we receive clarifications, hopefully by Monday,” said a statement from Fortis hospital.

Indraprastha Apollo hospital also said they would offer the precautionary doses from Monday. As per sources, confusion persisted till Saturday evening about pricing. The scenario was the same at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, which was looking for clarifications on pricing, and is unlikely to open up the drive on Sunday.

The vaccine manufacturers have said hospitals will be reimbursed for their existing stocks when they place fresh orders. However, hospitals await confirmation from the government.

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With fewer people expected, hospitals that are starting the drive on Sunday have decided not to open any additional counters for administering precaution doses. The uptake of precautionary doses has been low among healthcare workers, frontline workers, and people over the age of 60 years for whom it was opened up at government facilities in January.

So far, Delhi has administered 5.22 lakh precautionary doses in total, as per data from the CoWIN website.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

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