“We won’t be showing much interest in booster dose drives, as we will wait and gauge the response of beneficiaries this week and depending on that, we will purchase more stock. However, we don’t expect much response considering people are very reluctant to take booster doses,” said Dr Gautam Bhansali, chief coordinator of private hospitals for vaccination and COVID-19.
Tanmay Parab, an architect who was completely vaccinated in May last year, said there was no point in taking a booster or precautionary dose at this time, considering that cases have come down drastically. Unless cases surge again and the government makes it mandatory, he is not keen on taking it. “My mother and I won’t be taking booster doses as we are healthy now and don’t have any health issues. I still remember when my mother took her second dose of Covishield and she was unwell for a week. So, considering my mother’s experience and the drop in cases, a booster dose is not on my list for now,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, was one of the 29 private vaccination centres which administered booster doses to 200 new beneficiaries on Sunday. “There was a good response from the beneficiaries on Day 1 but it is too early to say anything. We will wait for the next three to four days to come to any conclusion before ordering new stock,” said Joy Chakraborty, COO, P D Hinduja Hospital.
Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, which had announced a discount on the old stock on Friday - Covishield at Rs 400 and Covaxinat Rs 650, presently has 2,500 doses that are going to expire by mid-June. “We will start the booster dose from Monday. We shall administer a booster dose from our old stock of vax at the old rate. When we order new stock,it will be administered at the new rate announced by the government,” said Dr Sujit Chatterjee, CEO of the hospital.
A day after the Central government announced paid booster doses for the 18-59 age group, the price of the two Covid-19 vaccines were slashed. While the price of Covishield has come down from Rs 600 to Rs 225 per dose, that of Covaxinhas beenreduced fromRs 1,200 to Rs 225, with a Rs 150 cap on Covid-19 vaccine administration charges for privatehospitals,to prevent overcharging.
