Bihar’s smaller pvt health firms may be left out of vaccine supply chain

Manufactures of Covid-19 vaccines may overlook the interest of smaller private health care centres in Bihar, as the minimum benchmark they have set for entertaining supply orders is way above the requirement of private facilities

Manufactures of Covid-19 vaccines may overlook the interest of smaller private health care centres in Bihar, as the minimum benchmark they have set for entertaining supply orders is way above the requirement of private facilities.

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Manufacturer of Covishield, the Serum Institute of India, has reportedly set a minimum limit of 6,000 doses for entertaining any supply order.

Similarly, Bharat Biotech, manufacturer of Covaxin, and Dr Reddy’s, manufacturer of Sputnik in India, have set a minimum supply limit of 1,000 doses each for private firms identified by the government for administering the Covid-19 vaccines, claimed Dr Satyajit Kumar Singh, managing director of the Ruban Memorial Hospital, on Wednesday.

According to an official in the state health department, logistics-related issues involved in supply of vaccines might be the reason behind the manufacturers’ minimum limit on purchase orders.

Dr Singh’s hospital is in touch with all the three manufacturers for supply of Covid-19 vaccines. When contacted for confirmation on the minimum supply limit, all the three manufacturers were silent on HT’s queries.

For private centres, the government has capped the maximum per dose price at ₹780 for Covishield, ₹1,410 for Covaxin and ₹1,145 for Sputnik V.

“We took a bank loan of ₹30 lakh to make advance payment for the vaccines last week after the Serum Institute told us that we have to place a minimum supply order for 6,000 doses, equivalent to 600 vials,” said Dr Singh.

In June, the hospital placed an order for 1,250 doses, of which Covishield accounted for 1,000 and Covaxin for 250 doses. However, the hospital never got the vaccines. The hospital then paid ₹ 9.45 lakh for the vaccines through the government’s National Health Authority portal. The money was later refunded in July.

Another health institution board, the Mahavir temple trust, which runs the Mahavir Cancer Sansthan, the Mahavir Vatsalya Aspatal and the Mahavir Arogya Sansthan, has adopted a “wait and watch” policy. “Initially, we applied for 3,000 vaccine doses, but government authorities asked us to prune our order. We then placed orders for 100 doses, but never got any vaccine and the money was refunded,” said Dr LB Singh, medical superintendent of the Mahavir Cancer Sansthan.

“We can place a bulk order and distribute the vaccines among our three hospitals. But, we want to be sure this time. We will wait for a government advisory,” added Dr LB Singh.

Meanwhile, the Paras hospital, which has a chain of at least five hospitals across India, is getting the vaccine supply from its corporate office in Gurgaon. “We got 10,000 doses of Covishield in June from our corporate office that we distributed among our units in Darbhanga and Ranchi. We expect another second round of vaccines soon,” said Dr Syed Asif Rahman, medical superintendent of Paras-HMRI hospital in Patna.

In June this year, the state government empanelled 76 private hospitals in Bihar for vaccination, but barring three corporate hospitals, none received any vaccine either through the government channel or directly from the manufacturers.

Ten private hospitals in June showed interest in procuring the vaccines. However, their supply order was as less as 10 doses to a maximum of 1,250 doses. They did not get the vaccines and their money was subsequently refunded.

“Private firms in Bihar are reluctant as they are unsure of vaccine consumption, given the fact that the jabs are given free to beneficiaries at government centres. Bihar is not Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru or Hyderabad, where people belonging to the high income group don’t mind paying for the vaccine and getting the jab at private centres. Here, people are price conscious,” said a health department official, requesting anonymity.

The Centre buys 75% of the vaccine produced to give free jabs to people, while 25% is allocated for the private sector.

Earlier on Tuesday, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in the Rajya Sabha that it was not necessary to reduce the vaccine quota of private hospitals as the unused quota of private hospitals was taken by the government. He was responding to BJP member Sushil Kumar Modi’s query on the government’s plan to reduce the vaccine quota of private hospitals.

“In a month, we saw seven to nine per cent unused vaccines by private hospitals. So, we decided to take those unutilised doses in the government quota. Therefore, it is not necessary to reduce the quota for the private sector. The vaccination is taking place smoothly,” the minister said.