Pune: Pimpri private hospital dumped 800 expired Covishield shots, says IMA

PUNE: A private vaccination centre at Kasarwadi in Pimpri Chinchwad was forced to discard 800 Covishield doses after vials crossed the expiry date, members of the Indian Medical Association said on Thursday.

The members said the incident may be the first recorded instance of preventable bulk vaccine wastage. They added that many more such cases are likely if the government does not step in to save stock at private hospitals.

The IMA had earlier said as many as 50 lakh Covishield doses are likely to go to waste at many private hospitals in the country, due to imminent expiry. Free jabs at government sites have cut turnouts at private ones.

"We may see more avoidable vaccine loss if early steps are not taken by the government. As per our information, the private centre at Kasarwadi discarded, or kept aside, 800 Covishield doses as the doses had a January 29 expiry," said Dr Sanjay Patil, chairman of the IMA's Hospital Board of India.

A doctor working with the Kasarwadi private vaccination centre, part of a charitable hospital, confirmed the wastage. He refused to divulge the exact number of doses that had gone past the expiry date. "Some of our Covishield doses had a January 29, 2022, expiry," he said.

A Covishield dose costs a private hospital Rs 630, including GST; it costs the Centre Rs 150. Private hospitals charge people Rs 780 for a dose, which includes cost of storage. Hospitals said wastage would mean enormous losses for them at the community. Dr Shashank Shah of Laparo Obeso Centre said, "We have 8,000 Covishield doses, costing over Rs 50 lakh, set to expire on February 28."