COVID-19 vaccine: Centre begins talks with industry bodies on vaccination blueprint

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The government has sought views of private sector healthcare chains and industry bodies on vaccinating India's 1.3 billion people against COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, headed by Niti Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul, reached out to industry bodies such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and private hospital chains on funding models for coronavirus vaccination, the Economic Times reported sources as saying.

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The expert group has sought comments on two issues—the funding model if private sector chains are used to vaccinate the poor in cities and in rural areas and the investment required once vaccines are made available in the open market.

The government has said it would bear the cost of the vaccine and could make good the cost of administering the vaccine borne by the private hospitals, the report said, adding that industry bodies may set up an expert group.

Read: How India’s ecosystem is gearing up for the smooth rollout of COVID-19 vaccines

"The government has approached us and asked would the private sector be willing to take this vaccination programme forward. Our answer is Yes. Ficci would be creating a team to address how the private hospitals can help the government in this task once a COVID-19 vaccine is approved," Group Head (medical strategy and operations), Fortis Healthcare, Bishnu Panigrahi said.

Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Adar Poonawalla says Indians likely to get it by April 2021, two-dose shots to cost Rs 1,000

The phase-3 trial of the Oxford vaccine is almost near completion, while the phase-3 clinical trial of the indigenously-developed vaccine candidate of the Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has already started.

Pfizer and BioNTech have said their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.

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