21% Indians to take COVID-19 vaccine at private hospitals

As the next phase of the vaccination drive is slated to commence in two days, 21 per cent of Indians are likely to take vaccines on payment basis; cost of vaccine at private hospitals capped at Rs250

NEW DELHI

As the next phase of the vaccination drive is slated to commence in two days, 21 per cent of Indians are likely to take their vaccines on payment basis at private hospitals, a survey has revealed.

In the upcoming round, citizens above 60 years of age, and people above 45 years of age with co-morbidities will be eligible for the vaccination.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of coronavirus vaccine doses administered to healthcare and frontline workers has crossed 1.42 crore in the country.

The government has decided to allow close to 24,000 private hospitals across the country to start inoculation of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in the next round of vaccination programme come March 1.

It is likely to be priced at Rs 250 per dose. Government hospitals will continue the vaccination at no cost to citizens.

Taking cognisance of recent development of permitting private hospitals to vaccinate senior citizens aged over 60 and those with co-morbidities aged over 45, ‘LocalCircles’ conducted a survey to understand the percentage of people that would prefer getting the vaccine at a private hospital on payment basis and what is the maximum price citizens are willing to pay.