INDORE: Covid-19 vaccination in private institutions has failed to kick in in the state making it the lowest performing province in inoculating people through those facilities, shows union ministry of health and family welfare records.
The union ministry in a reply in Lok Sabha in the monsoon session in the first week of August showed that in Madhya Pradesh only 2.84% vaccine doses had been inoculated/ received by the private institutions till August 2.
The record showed only 1,18,230 doses of 2.39 crore had been administered in private institutions. The state along with other states commonly known as ‘BIMARU’, a couple of north-eastern states and tribal states were poor performers in inoculation through private hospitals.
The union government on May 1 announced that private hospitals will administer around 25% of vaccines to the population along with state governments that were given the same shares. But, on June 21, the union government took share of state government procurement into its ambit allowing private hospitals to purchase up to 25% of monthly vaccine production.
State Immunisation officer Dr Santosh Shukla, when asked about it said, “There are many reasons behind this low vaccination in private institutions in the state including high prices, supply issues, frequent policy change and others.”
Explaining about it Dr Shukla said, “The timing of allowing private hospital to procure 25% share of vaccine production was not right because of the governments across the country pushing for vaccination at government sites free of cost as it opened for almost all age groups except pregnant and lactating mother on May 1.”
“Private institutions are charging money for inoculation which is high and the government is inoculating it without any cost. Everyone in a state like MP is not so well off to spend on vaccination in private hospitals”, said Dr Shukla.
The frequent policy change, vaccine supply issue and less penetration of private institutions in the state is also one of the reasons behind it. There are only seven cities with big private facilities, added Dr Shukla.
The records further showed that only states like Bihar, Meghalaya, Nagaland along with Union territories except Delhi, Chandigarh zero dose inoculation in private states and Tripura with only 0.11% administration through facilities other than government.
The best performing states were most of the southern states with a greater number of private hospitals in the country including Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Delhi and West Bengal.
