India Inc braces to vaccinate all employees, seeks more clarity on supply

Godrej, RIL, Tatas and Infosys are striking procurement deals with vax makers

India Inc is bracing to inoculate its entire workforce—at its manufacturing and offices, with the government relaxing the age and availability criteria.  From setting up a dedicated help desk and tying up with hospitals to organise vaccination camps. to forming cross-functional teams, companies across various sectors are leaving nothing to chance to fight out the unprecedented global health emergency.  

But some have expressed skepticism citing availability of vaccines at various locations supply chain and logistic issues. "When we move forward with such a drive, we have to ensure that all our employees get vaccinated at the same time at every location. But we have not been able to chalk out such a plan as there is no clarity over availability of vaccines in all locations," said an executive from a large MNC.

Others agreed. “There is no clarity on availability of vaccines. At the 45 plus age group itself we faced an availability issue. We need to wait and watch the way the allotment happens for centre, state and private segments. It is a good intent to open vaccination for 18 plus but until there is no execution plan in place and clarity on vaccine supply anything said is not going to be very meaningful,” said Hari Mohan Bangur, managing director of Shree Cements.  

There is a vaccine shortage in the country. So, we have to take a view down the line, said a senior insurance executive at a private sector general insurer.

Others too are awaiting clarity. “JSW Steel is looking to get more clarity on procurement of vaccines for 18 plus and is currently engaged in database collection of its employees and their spouses for which the company will be facilitating the vaccines,”  said Pankaj Lochan, chief human resources officer at Jindal Steel, adding that the company hasn’t faced any shortage so far, he said.

In a bid to fasten the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country, the government on Monday announced a "liberalised and accelerated" Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination from May 1. It makes everyone above the age of 18 to be eligible to get the dose.

Companies fear that a liberal vaccination policy that will include inoculating the entire adult population from May 1 is set to create an acute shortage. According to a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services, the new vaccination guidelines would create additional demand for nearly 1.2b vaccine doses in India.

Therefore, some of the large corporates have already approached the vaccine makers to strike procurement deals. While Tatas have sought about 200,000 doses, Godrej has sought around 100,000 doses and Infosys around 60,000-70,000 doses from vaccine makers, said people aware of the matter.

With second wave of the pandemic, the number of active Covid cases has seen a sharp rise in India since the beginning of April—climbing to the second highest position after the United States,  but the country has managed to vaccinate less than 8 per cent of its total population—the lowest in the world. India has administered over 12.38 crore Covid doses, even as the number of daily cases breached the 2.7 lakh-mark, forcing states to impose local lockdowns and weekend curfews.

Under the third phase of the mass vaccination drive, the vaccine manufacturers would supply 50 per cent of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) released doses to the central government and would be free to supply the remaining 50 per cent doses to state governments and in the open market.

Allowing corporates to also be able to procure vaccine doses from manufacturers is a welcome move. This will fasten the vaccination drive manifold and is expected to put the nation back to normalcy,” said Somraj Roy, Chief Human Resource Officer, KEC International. The RPG Group firm has vaccinated 95 per cent of its eligible employees at the five manufacturing plants in India and 25000 at the group level, he said.

Companies across various sectors including automobiles, steel, packaged good, engineering and construction, capital goods, segment, finance and insurance have either been bearing the costs of vaccinating employees (above 45) upfront or reimbursing the costs since the beginning of April and now plan to replicate the same exercise to inoculate the remaining employees.

B Thiagarajan, managing director, Blue Star, who is chairman of CII's western region, says that he sees a step-up in vaccination efforts by companies with the government relaxing rules. “At Blue Star, we are setting up vaccination centres at our factories and inviting hospital chains such as Apollo to inoculate our workforce,” he said. About 20 per cent of the company's employees are 45 years and above and most of them have been covered. This initiative will now be extended to those 18 years and above from May 1 as well as basis vaccine availability, he said.

A spokesperson at Tata Motors said, the company has been vaccinating its employees at its plants in collaboration with local authorities for the 45 plus age group. “Regarding the possibilities from May 1, understand industry associations are in discussion with the government for better clarity on what all can be done and how it should be done,” the spokesperson added.

Rajeshwar Tripathi, Chief Human Resources Officer, Automotive and Farm sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra said, so far, more than 90 per cent of their eligible workforces including temporary and contractual employees have been vaccinated. “We have also established company maintained  quarantine centers for our associates at hotspots like Mumbai and Pune and we are providing for complete medical assistance where required, in collaboration with hospitals at all locations,” said Tripathi.

Some like Dabur India, have also been offering Covid vaccination leaves to its employees. Besides bearing the vaccination cost, we are also offering our employees COVID Vaccination Special Leave," said Biplab Baksi, Executive Director-HR at Dabur India. It has tied up with nearby hospitals for its plants and also in Delhi to complete the drive, he said.

Shally Seth Mohile, Arnab Dutta, Aditi Divekar, Sohini Das, Viveat Susan Pinto, Samie Modak, & Subrata Panda contributed to the story