New Delhi: The guidelines come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government was taking back control of the vaccination drive – a little over a month after it was opened to states.
The central government will procure 75 per cent of vaccines produced in India and distribute them to states. Private hospitals could buy the remaining 25 per cent to inoculate those willing to pay for their doses.
The distribution of the vaccine would be based on the size of the state, population, disease burden and progress of vaccination. The distribution would also be based on wastage. The allocation to states may be negatively affected by high wastage rates, the government said Tuesday as part of its revised guidelines for the national vaccination drive.
Last month Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were accused of wasting around 37 and 30 per cent of supplied doses. BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh was accused of wasting 11 per cent of doses. All three hit back; they said the data was faulty and actual wastage was only around five per cent.The guidelines also stated that while vaccines will be provided free of cost to all people, private hospitals could buy the remaining 25 per cent to inoculate those willing to pay for their doses.
Allowing private hospitals access to a quarter of the country’s supply is meant to “incentivise production by vaccine manufacturers”, the government said, adding that states/UTs would have to be responsible for dividing available doses between hospitals across their territories.
Prices at which hospitals can buy the vaccines “would be declared by each manufacturer” the government added. Currently Covaxin costs 1,200 per dose for hospitals and Covishield Rs 600.The centre buys the same vaccines at ₹ 150 per dose.
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