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Govt apprehensive of involving private hospitals in vaccination drives, say experts

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 2/23/2021 11:33:42 AM

New Delhi, Feb 22 Expressing concerns about the speed of coronavirus vaccination drive in the country, Wipro founder and chairman Azim Premji on Sunday urged the central governments to involve private healthcare practitioners in the process. “If the government involves the private hospitals and nursing homes to join the anti-Covid vaccination drive, about 500 million people can be inoculated in two months,” said Azim Premji at a post-budget interaction with industry leaders organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Premji said that scaling up the mass vaccination drive to cover more people at the earliest was a critical need of the hour."There is a possibility that we can get the Serum Institute India (SII) to supply vaccines at about Rs 300 a shot and hospitals and private nursing homes can administer the shot at Rs 100. So with a Rs 400 shot it is possible to conduct mass vaccinations of the population,” he said. The thought echoed throughout the businessman community with all manufacturing heads rallying for the entry of the private sector into healthcare. Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, said, "We have the production capability.