Maharashtra’s private hospitals offer to vaccinate staff

MUMBAI: Private hospitals in Maharashtra and Mumbai have offered to vaccinate their own staff in their hospital premises to push the vaccination numbers in the state. Maharashtra’s vaccination numbers are one of the lowest in the country, with the state struggling to vaccinate its first line of healthcare and frontline workers. Maharashtra’s vaccinations as on February 1 stood at 2,69,064. The number is less than 50% of the coverage that is expected from the state.

Vaccine hesitancy and logistical issues have been holding back the state’s vaccination drive. This is where the association of hospitals (AOH) — the lobby group of over 53 trust hospitals in Mumbai and Pune — have petitioned the government to convert their hospital premises into vaccination centers for their own staff to reach the target to vaccinate healthcare staff.

Currently all private hospitals have submitted a list of HCWs to be vaccinated to the BMC, and HCWs have to go to BMC-designated places to get the vaccinations. However, there are issues of low compliance and the hospitals not being updated about who has taken the vaccine, unless the HCW informs them, said Gautam Khanna, president of the AOH.