Pune Pvt Hosps Left in Blindspot on Vaccine Procurement, Supply

Private hospitals in Pune have been left in the lurch after 1 May, with no directions on how to procure vaccines.

The Big Story podcast on How the Third Phase of Vaccinations Impacted Pune Private Hospitals. Image used for representation only.

(Photo: The Quint)

Amid an acute shortage of COVID vaccine, the Centre on 1 May opened up vaccination for all citizens above 18. However, it also passed part of the onus of procuring and administering vaccines directly from the manufacturers on state governments and private hospitals.

With depleting stocks, the 18-44 age group in India is struggling to book appointments for vaccination and the move has led to several states closing vaccine centres for them as their stocks ran dry.

Private hospitals bore the brunt of this new policy, as they were left without any guidance on how to procure vaccines. In this podcast, we look at  how Pune, the home of Serum Institute of India and one of the worst-hit districts in India, is dealing with vaccine supply and shortages after 1 May.

I spoke with multiple private hospitals – from small 50-bed hospitals to large 450-bed super-specialities – across the city to understand the ground reality. Almost all of them were unaware of how to procure vaccines directly and had no directive from authorities regarding vaccination protocols for the young-age group.

To understand how the Pune district administration is tackling the vaccine supply shortage and how private hospitals are dealing with new inoculation rules, I spoke with Dr Vaishali Jadhav, Assistant Medical Chief for Pune Municipal Corporation, Dr Amita Phadnis, a Paediatrician and owner of Oyster and Pearl Hospital Group, and Dr Sunil Agarwal, a cardiologist and owner of Om Hospital in Pune. Tune in!