With sizable stocks of unused Covid-19 vaccines in India’s private hospitals inching closer to an expiry date, the private healthcare secto...
With sizable stocks of unused Covid-19 vaccines in India’s private hospitals inching closer to an expiry date, the private healthcare sector has asked the government to allow booster shots to be given to fully vaccinated people.
Over 50 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines are lying unused in private hospitals in Maharashtra, data from the state public health department shows. In Mumbai alone, private hospitals are sitting on about 19 lakh vaccine doses. The number is higher in Pune at 20.48 lakh doses.
Scroll.in was unable to access data on the national stockpile of vaccines in the private hospitals, but with stocks lying in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and other cities, it is bound to be substantial.
At several private hospitals in Maharashtra, officials said vaccine stocks are slated to expire between January and March next year. The shelf life of Covid-19 vaccines in India varies from six months for Sputnik, nine months for Covishield and one year for Covaxin, if stored properly.
India currently allows only two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to be administered to its citizens. About 40 countries, mostly in the rich and developed world, which have already achieved very high levels of vaccination coverage, are allowing their citizens to access a third dose,...
