Vaccination numbers drop at pvt facilities as most head to govt centres in Delhi

On March 16, government facilities recorded a turnout rate of 65%, against private ones logging 61%. On March 17, government sites saw a 69% turnout, and private facilities 54%.

Covid-19 vaccination sites at government facilities in Delhi have seen higher turnout rates than those in private facilities since last week, government data shows, an increase that state government officials attribute to a host of measures put in place to increase the number of jabs administered at centres in hospitals and clinics run by them. Senior officials said they expect this gap to widen as state-run facilities add more vaccine sites and extend the window for on-spot registrations by four hours from Monday.

While vaccines are administered for free in the government centres, private ones are allowed top charge up to Rs.250 per dose. Sanchit Khanna / Hindustan Times (Sanchit Khanna / Hindustan Times)

Data seen by Hindustan Times showed that on March 15, the turnout rate at vaccination sites in government facilities was 64%, while this was 72% in private ones. However, the trend turned from the next day. On March 16, government facilities recorded a turnout rate of 65%, against private ones logging 61%. On March 17, government sites saw a 69% turnout, and private facilities 54%.

This gulf stretched the next day, with a 72% turnout at government facilities, 49% at private sites.

To be sure, the number of vaccinations in absolute terms have dropped at private facilities over the previous week, and increased significantly at government centres. While 15,917 vaccine doses were administered in private centres on March 15, this fell to 11,179 by March 18. In comparison, this number went from 23,285 in public facilities on March 15 to 29,385 on March 18.

“The trend has continued so far. Earlier, such instances were rare and never happened for two or more consecutive days till last week,” said a senior government official.

State officials put this trend down to authorities engaging with residents, especially in low-income group colonies, as well as eased registration rules and timings.

“The Delhi government last week issued directions asking state-run hospitals to allow on-spot registration between 3pm and 5pm every day. This strategy, along with district administrations engaging in door-to-door drives — especially in low-income group colonies — to convince eligible beneficiaries to get themselves vaccinated at the earliest and arranging for transport facilities if needed, has led to higher turnout rate in the government facilities as against the private ones,” said a senior health department official.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday said that he hoped the turnout will increase as Covid-19 vaccine centres in the city open for 12 hours a day (from 9am to 9pm) — from eight hours currently (9 am to 5 pm) – from Monday. He said the window for on-spot registrations will also be increased in state-run centres starting the same day.

“It has also emerged that a large number of beneficiaries who register themselves for vaccines on a particular time slot fail to arrive at the centre in time. So, on-spot registrations will be allowed from 3pm-9pm in all state-run centres. Currently, they only allow on-spot registration between 3pm and 5pm. We shall request private centres to follow the same protocol,” said Jain.

The rule regarding 12 working hours, however, will apply to both state-run vaccination centres and the private ones, as per government orders that have already been issued.

Delhi currently has 550 vaccination sites – of which around 325 are in government facilities. While vaccines are administered for free in the government centres, private ones are allowed top charge up to Rs.250 per dose.

With most government centres now allowed to vaccinate up to 200 persons per day, the city’s total daily vaccination capacity is currently around 64,000 doses. Of these, around 41,000 shots can be administered in government facilities, while 23,000 is the cumulative capacity of centres in private facilities.

Experts said costs concerns and the relative ease of on-spot registrations, which don’t require residents to sign up online, has skewed the turnout in favour of government facilities.

“Delhi has a large population which will find it difficult to shell out ₹250 for each vaccine dose. But it is important to note that there is also a mass perception that government facilities are more equipped to deal with potential cases of adverse effects, compared to the less-known private hospitals,” said Dr Namrata Makkar, deputy medical superintendent at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.

Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community medicines department in Safdarjung Hospital, said, “Most vaccine centres at government facilities opened on-spot registration from March 15. That has come as a major relief for people who are not comfortable with technology or those who do not own smartphones.”

Dr Kishore also welcomed the government’s move to extend the vaccination and spot registration windows.

The decision to extend timing of vaccination centres from Monday was taken by the Delhi cabinet on Thursday. After the cabinet meeting, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a press briefing that the government also plans to double vaccine sites in the city – with which vaccines administered per day would increase from 45,000 to 125,000 – and urged the central government to relax norms and allow vaccination of all adults.

Currently, the vaccination is open for health workers, front line workers, people aged over 60 years and individuals aged over 45 years who also have co-morbidities (among those on a list prepared by the central government). The vaccine drive was launched across India on January 16.