Private sector looks for ways to liquidate excess vaccine stock

Some hospitals have opened talks with companies to take the unused doses back and distribute them in areas that need them

A leading South India-based corporate hospital chain said that they have around 400,000 unused Covid-19 vaccine doses that can be used no later than next March. Going by their daily rate of vaccination, the hospital chain is confident of liquidating the stock.

Others have opened talks with the vaccine makers to ensure some unused stock nearing expiry dates is taken back and redistributed in areas that have demand. “Some hospitals have opened talks with companies to take the stock back and give it to areas where they see demand. There is no point in wasting the doses,” said a senior executive of a Mumbai-based hospital who did not wish to be named.

The situation is similar across the country where demand for paid jabs at private vaccination centers have dropped significantly as free vaccination at government centers is now easily available. In Mumbai, industry insiders estimate there has been an over 70 percent drop in demand from the May-June levels in private sector vaccination. In Maharashtra, average daily rate of vaccination in the private sector is around 25,000 shots.

State government sources say that if the rate of vaccination in the private sector remains low, hospitals may be asked to hand over the excess doses to respective district authorities.

Hospitals, however, are not so sure. “Giving back to the government would be tricky as we have procured these at much higher rates than the government purchase price,” said a senior executive of a city-based private hospital.

Dilip Jose, MD & CEO of Manipal Hospitals, India’s second largest hospital chain said that they were doing a few thousand vaccine shots now compared to the peak of 50,000 shots a day after the second wave.

“No vaccine shot should be wasted. If the private sector has excess stock and anyone feels that this cannot be exhausted in time, one should go for out-reach programmes and give it for free if needed,” Jose said.

Already some city hospitals in Hyderabad have started giving the vaccines at the cost price without the charging the service fee of Rs 150 per shot.

The Centre has capped the price of Covishield and Covaxin in private hospitals to Rs 780 and Rs 1410 per dose respectively, essentially asking hospitals to take a service charge of Rs 150.

Joy Chakraborty, COO of PD Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, said that the institute's daily rate of vaccination was down to 300 from a peak of 2,300 or so. It, however, only has a few thousand doses of inventory, and mostly Covishield shots. Chakraborty felt that demand may see a jump if a third booster shot is allowed for healthcare and essential workers.

Various private hospitals are replenishing their vaccine stocks but in smaller numbers due to lower demand for vaccines in their centres. “Covid19 vaccinations are continuing in our hospitals. Vaccination numbers have come down during the past two months. We are ordering vaccines as per demand, and have scaled it down from earlier days, when we had to stock more, to take care of the increased demand,” said Bishnu Panigrahi, Group Head, Medical Strategy and Operations, Fortis Healthcare.

The country’s largest private hospital chain Apollo Hospitals Group did not comment for this story. Analysts expect a sharp decline in Apollo’s vaccination revenue in the second quarter of the fiscal compared to the first quarter.

“We expect Covid-19 vaccination revenue to decline sharply QoQ, driven by a decline in vaccination volumes for private players. Vaccines contributed 5.1 per cent and 5.5 per cent to Q1FY22 revenues and EBITDA, respectively, based on our estimate,” Nomura said for Apollo Hospitals recently.

Aakash Healthcare said it had an adequate stock of COVID-19 vaccines for nearly three and half months.  “We will be placing the next order 15 days prior,” Kousar Shah, chief operating officer, Aakash Healthcare Group said.

Hospitals such as Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital are gearing up for children vaccination. “We are waiting for the government to give approval and other procedural guidelines. We have already started the pre-booking where companies and  individuals can fill in the details,” said Dinesh Vasishta, vice president - operations, Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital.