COVID-19 vaccination drive: A look at why private sector participation is need of the hour

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India is currently in a better position as compared to previous months if we look at the Covid curve. With the immunisation drive already happening, people have become complacent. The new coronavirus variants are emerging and the ongoing challenge is to quickly roll out the vaccines for all citizens.

The current rate at which the vaccination programme is going on is apparently less than the required rate. In this context, the role of the private sector in the vaccination drive assumes great significance.

“The private sector is very willing to bridge the gap by working with the government in delivering faster vaccination to the country’s population. The government has declared an intention to vaccinate 30 crore people by August this year. However, only about a crore people have been vaccinated to date. As a private sector, we want to help the government provide faster reach and ensure the lower cost to the government, too, as 45000 sites in the country are not enough to vaccinate an entire population of 1.3 billion,” said Gautam Khanna, Co-Chair FICCI Health Services Committee and CEO, PD Hinduja Hospital & MRC.

Big names from the corporate world have already stated the need to involve the private sector in the vaccination drive.

Up to to 4th place but this is clearly not enough. We have the production capability. We need to harness the private sector’s capability to scale up distribution rapidly. Widespread vaccination is our main hope against any new waves which are now a serious threat. @drharshvardhan pic.twitter.com/6cb9Pokphw

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 16, 2021

Discussions on rolling out vaccines are already in place.

“Industry can supplement and contribute to the Government’s program with appropriate checks and balances, throughout the envisaged three phases, so as to further reach out the vaccine to those sections of the population who can contribute to the economic revival of the country,” said TV Narendran, President-Designate Chairman of CII’s Vaccine Task Force.

The second phase of inoculating those over 50 will be a particularly challenging task. Private sector involvement in the drive will ensure the process goes smoothly. On the involvement of the private sector, CII suggests that for ensuring faster rollout and for providing confidence to workers at the workplace, business enterprises could be permitted to vaccinate their employees and immediate family members. Enterprises could also assist in the vaccine rollout for surrounding communities on a CSR basis as well.

“It is estimated that such a program could benefit an additional 100 million workers in the formal sector and local communities by providing access to the vaccine,” CII said in a release.

The exercise will help the government to reach its target priority groups quicker. This will be critical for getting the workforce back to work and the economy back on track.

One of the main troubles is also the logistics part. By opening the vaccination process to the private sector, the large cohort of those willing to take the vaccines would enable full utilisation of the vaccines within the expiry period.

The private sector has avowed its contribution to the vaccination drive but the major apprehension is the disparity that is there because of the uneven distribution of private storage facilities.

“We concur that there is a need for the government to monitor the vaccine’s distribution concerning how it is dispensed, the protocols to be followed, how the centres can be managed, and the control on vaccines to be given only to the section based on the risk assessments and needs,” asserted Khanna.

With the prolonged need for involving the private sector, the importance of having a proper ecosystem to monitor the immunisation drive also arises.

“The private sector is responsible for looking after 74% of our population in all OPDs in India and 65% of all patients admitted to hospitals. Therefore, the private sector’s participation in the Covid vaccination drive is a must if we want to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic. The government must issue proper guidelines immediately to the selected private healthcare organizations and also indemnify them against litigation arising from adverse events or reactions,” said (Hony) Brig Dr Arvind Lal, Padma Shri, Chairman, FICCI Swasth Bharat (Public Health) Task Force & Executive Chairman, Dr Lal PathLabs Ltd.