Pune Private Hospitals Left in Blindspot on COVID Vaccine Procurement, Supply

Amid an acute COVID vaccine shortage, the Centre on 1 May opened up vaccinations for all citizens above 18 years of age. However, it also passed the impetus of administering and procuring vaccines directly from the manufacturers on state governments and private hospitals. With depleting stocks, the 18-44 age group in India is struggling to book appointments for vaccination since several states have shutdown their vaccine centres temporarily for the want of enough doses. Private hospitals too which are supposed to lend their hands in this process have faced the brunt of this new policy, as they were left without any guidance on how to procure vaccines. So how is the vaccination process going? How are hospitals managing to get vaccines? In this podcast, we look at Pune, the home to Serum Institute of India and one of the worst-hit districts in India is dealing with vaccine supply and shortages post 1 May. Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Guest: Dr Vaishali Jadhav, Assistant Medical Chief for Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Dr Amita Phadnis, paediatrician and the owner of Oyster and Pearl Hospital Group and Dr Sunil Agarwal, cardiologist and owner of Om Hospital, Pune. Paradub: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices