Week Ago, BMC Centres Were Shut But Pvt Hospitals Had Vaccines in Lakhs: Here's Why

When the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the state government had to close vaccination centres due to vaccine shortages a week ago on June 3, lakhs of doses were still available at private hospitals not far from the BMC headquarters.

Maharashtra purchased 25.10 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses in May under the previous vaccine policy, which permitted states and private companies to buy 25% of vaccine output directly from producers. In contrast, private hospitals purchased 32.38 lakh doses, the most out of any state. The disparity was even more pronounced in Mumbai, where private hospitals procured 22.37 lakh pills, four times the 5.23 lakh doses allotted by the state government to the local body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, a report by the Indian Express states.

When private hospitals were unable to purchase vaccines directly from manufacturers in April, BMC obtained a far larger number — 9.47 lakh doses — from the state.

The immunisation policy has been changed once again since June 8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a national speech that the Centre would take over the procurement of 25% of vaccine output that states were authorised to acquire directly.  He stated that the Centre would acquire it and make it available to states for free in order to vaccinate all persons above the age of 18.

According to BMC data, just 3.34 lakh vaccines were administered in Mumbai by private institutions between May 1 and June 2. This means they could only use around 15% of their whole stock. This is lower than the national average of 17% use, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which recently said that private hospitals in the country procured 1.29 crore doses in May, but only provided 22 lakh doses (17% of the total procured) throughout the month.

In other words, as of June 3, when government vaccination centres in Mumbai were closed owing to vaccine shortages, 13.04 lakh doses of the total 22.37 lakh procured by private hospitals in Mumbai were estimated to be in stock (64 percent of total procured in May). This did not sit well with civic bodies. The BMC expressed worries over “disproportional availability” of vaccines in a meeting with state government officials this week. “This creates equity concerns; is the private sector purchasing more than it can handle?” a top BMC official remarked.

Private hospitals, on the other hand, argue that with so much uncertainty about availability, they can’t afford to buy in small quantities. They claim that buying in bulk saves money, simplifies logistics, and allows for better planning of corporate and residential vaccinations, the report states.

Furthermore, hospitals have staggered stock utilisation by enabling 500-2,000 slots each day to be booked. This allows patients to reserve slots on a daily basis and helps plan and improve capacity on a daily basis, according to a private hospital CEO who did not want to be identified.

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