Maharashtra: Task force set to request cut in booster dose price

Pune: Members of the state Covid-19 task force told the media agency on Saturday that they plan to suggest a cut in price of booster shots for the 18-59 age group.

The third shot costs Rs 375 at private hospitals - Rs 225 for the jab and Rs 150 as service charge. Some states sponsor it for the 18-59 group, but in Maharashtra only the 60-plus get it for free at government vaccination centres. The state had requested the Centre to sponsor it, but a decision on the matter is awaited.

The state task force is set to meet on Monday, and its chief Dr Sanjay Oak said a subsidy in booster price can widen coverage in the 18-59 age group.

"We plan to ask the state to subsidise the rates further for booster doses in the private sector," he said.

But Dr Sanjay Patil, chairperson of the IMA's Hospital Board of India, Pune chapter, said low turnout and infrastructure costs have made Covid vaccination unviable for many private hospitals.

He said in March, based on a central advistory, the state government could have used near-expiry doses from private centres for drives at government units and cut waste. "But requests to do so by private centres went unheeded," Dr Patil said, adding that frequent changes in vaccine policy can create confusion.

"Many private centres had to absorb financial loss due to reduced costs of vaccines. Private hospitals have almost stopped participating in vaccination drives," he added.