Vaccination pace at private facilities falls

Private hospitals in the city are witnessing a gradual slowdown in the number of Covid-19 vaccinations since March 17, with nearly 14,006 inoculations done in the last eight days, comparatively fewer than 26,551 inoculations at government set-ups during the same period, according to the district health department data

Private hospitals in the city are witnessing a gradual slowdown in the number of Covid-19 vaccinations since March 17, with nearly 14,006 inoculations done in the last eight days, comparatively fewer than 26,551 inoculations at government set-ups during the same period, according to the district health department data.

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Although the number of private set-ups is lower than the government centres, private hospitals had reported 25% higher coverage than government facilities between March 1 and 16.

“The district health department has set up more vaccination centres compared to private hospitals. There are more than 100 government-run vaccination centres in the district and only 56 at private hospitals. The outreach of government-run vaccination centres is higher in rural and urban areas compared to private set-ups. Second, people are aware that the government has been supplying the vaccine to private hospitals, so they prefer to go to nearby health centres to take the vaccine shot,” said Dr MP Singh, district immunisation officer.

The data provided by the district health department shows that from March 1 to 16, vaccination centres at private hospitals inoculated at least 40,809 people in the prioritised population group, which was almost 25% higher than the number at government facilities.

In the last 24 days, over 56,881 inoculations of the prioritised population group have taken place at government-run vaccination centres and 54, 815 at private hospitals. Private vaccination centres account for 49% of the total inoculations since March 1.

At the state level too, vaccinations at private facilities are much lower when compared to neighbouring Delhi. According to the data shared by the union minister of health and family welfare on Wednesday, only 21.4% of 1,200,479 vaccine doses have been administered by private facilities across Haryana, whereas in New Delhi, the share was 46.34%. Officials said that Delhi has set up more vaccination centres at private hospitals.

Private hospital chains in the city, despite setting up multiple vaccination centres and camps in various condominiums for inoculation, agree that there has been a slight fall in vaccination.

“Private hospitals cater to different strata of society, where people are aware of different vaccines available across the globe. Many people do not want to be inoculated as they have been waiting for the single-dose vaccine shot. Second, people have developed faith in the government system knowing that private hospitals procure vaccines from the government. Third, many senior citizens fear contracting infection while visiting hospitals,” said Dr Sushila Kataria, director and head, internal medicine, Medanta Hospital.

According to Kataria, the response has been equally low at camps set up in condominiums. “As RWAs (residents’ welfare associations) have been catering to people within their society and not allowing people from outside, it also restricts the turnout.”

Acknowledging a slowdown in vaccinations, Dr Ritu Garg, zonal director, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said, “A large number of people did get vaccinated in the first few weeks. It has declined a little bit. But with the steps taken by the district health department to outreach RWAs by setting up vaccination camps, overall coverage will be increased. Also, the widening of eligibility criteria allowing people above 45 years of age to get vaccinated, irrespective of the health issues, will increase the footfall once again.”