Second day of expanded booster drive in Gurugram sees weaker response than first day

Officials said that on the first day, many hospitals in the city had not started administering precautionary doses due to confusion over prices and pending stock

Two-hundred-and-sixty people between the age of 18 and 60 years took a precautionary or booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, the second day of the expanded drive, lesser than the 304 who took the dose on Sunday--a low number for the first day of the drive to begin with.

Doctors said that the pace of vaccination is likely to pick up in a few days as many corporates are showing interest in holding vaccination camps at their offices. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

However, officials of the health department said that the numbers could be low as not all hospitals are conducting the vaccination sessions.

Dr MP Singh, district immunisation officer, said, “There around eight to 10 private hospitals in the city where precautionary doses are being administered to the 18-60 age group. Due to this, the initial response could be unenthusiastic. Many private hospitals stopped setting up vaccination sites in the past few months due to a reduced number of beneficiaries.”

He said, “We will be conducting a meeting with private hospitals to check if they need help from us. We will try to get at least 30 private hospitals to set up sites for precautionary doses. We are hoping that the numbers will increase within a week as now prices for the vaccines have also reduced.”

Officials said that on the first day, many hospitals in the city had not started administering precautionary doses due to confusion over prices and pending stock.

Booster doses are not free for people in the 18-60 age group, and only those who have completed a nine-month gap since their second dose are eligible. However, the precautionary dose continues to be free for those above 60 health care workers and front line workers only at government centres.

Singh said that the price will be adjusted by the vaccine manufacturers while hospitals purchase new stock. The central government has set a price of ₹225 for both the vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin. Service charges will be applicable over and above that, fixing the price at ₹386 across hospitals for the precautionary dose.

Vaccine manufacturers have also announced that the cost difference with regard to vaccines purchased earlier at a higher price will be adjusted against orders placed in the future.

Meanwhile, several hospitals in the city said they are witnessing only 40-60 beneficiaries a day.

However, doctors said that the pace of vaccination is likely to pick up in a few days as many corporates are showing interest in holding vaccination camps at their offices.

Manish Gupta, hospital director, Manipal Hospital, said, “We are getting a good response from the neighbourhood and corporates for the precautionary dose. We are expecting more people to come in for the vaccination in the coming days as corporates have also started coming in for vaccinating their employees. We have noticed that the demand for Covishield is more than Covaxin because previously more people had taken Covishield doses.”

Some hospitals in the city started administering precautionary doses only on Monday.

Dr Swadesh Kumar, head of emergency department and medical services at Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, said, “On Monday, over 40 people were given a precautionary dose at the hospital. The response towards the precautionary dose has been good till now but we are hoping it will increase in the coming days in both 18+ and 60+ age groups, as people are becoming more aware and want safety against Covid-19.”

Rohit, a 31-year-old resident who took the precautionary dose on Monday, said, “I’m happy that I got it on time as cases have started increasing once again. This dose will help my body boost its immunity against the virus.”

On Monday, Fortis Hospital also started the vaccination process. An official spokesperson of the hospital said, “This is a welcome and timely announcement by the government. Expansion of precautionary doses will help boost immunity and reduce hospitalisation of patients with comorbidities. We have started providing precautionary doses at all the Covid vaccination centres in our hospitals across India at reduced rates.”

A total of 987 precautionary doses were administered in Gurugram district on Monday with 618 doses administered in the 60+ age group.

On Monday, a total of 3,639 doses were administered, including 666 first doses and 1,986 second doses. Till now, over 5.09 million doses have been administered in Gurugram.

Meanwhile, Gurugram on Monday reported 46 fresh cases of Covid along with 50 recoveries.