Even as the government launched the world's largest immunization drive on Saturday, India Inc. is making preparations to procure the COVID-19 vaccine for employees and their families.
Leading corporate houses from Tata's to JSW Group, from Reliance to Vedanta, and multinational corporations have started discussions within their boardrooms to vaccinate their employees and their families.
Indian firms have also initiated discussions with the vaccine manufacturers to procure the vaccine in bulk for their employees. However, the government now regulates the indigenously manufactured vaccines, COVISHIELD & COVAXIN.
PM flags of world's largest vaccination drive
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first phase of the pan India rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday.
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, said India's exercise to vaccinate its population against COVID19 shall be the world's largest immunization drive.
Congratulating the health minister for the government's herculean efforts, Vedanta Resources executive chairman Anil Agarwal in a tweet, said, "Vedanta will extend full support. Efficient deployment of vaccine to masses is key to secure well being of our citizens."
Serum Insitute CEO, Adar Poonawalla congratulated PM Modi on the successful vaccine rollout and joined the league of frontline workers to take the vaccine shot.
As a responsible corporate, @VedantaLimited will ensure all its employees are vaccinated soonest possible, said the billionaire chairman in another tweet. "Vedanta is planning to procure 25,000 doses for its employees," a Vedanta official told ABP Network.
Sajjan Jindal led JSW Group has initiated discussions with the vaccine manufacturers to procure the COVID-19 vaccines for its 55,000 employees, including contractual ones.
The government has not permitted the vaccine manufacturers to sell the vaccines in the private market yet.
Private sector to pay more for vaccine
While the government is procuring 110 lakh doses of COVISHIELD vaccine from Serum Institute of India (SII) at the cost of Rs 200 per dose and another 55 lakh doses of Covaxin vaccine from Bharat Biotech at the cost of Rs 295 per dose, the Indian private sector will have to pay a lot more.
"We are in talks with the vaccine manufacturers to procure COVID-19 vaccines for our employees. The cost of each shot is coming close to Rs 1,000. We are negotiating for bulk supplies," an official of a leading Indian firm told ABP Network.
Many Tata Group companies are also planning to vaccinate their employees at the earliest. For example, Tata Steel covers all medical costs for its staff and their families, including the identification test for COVID-19 infection and the vaccine for infants. When COVID-19 vaccines are made available, this cost-free facility will be expanded to cover the COVID-19 vaccines also, said a Tata official.
According to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson, Biocon, the company will provide free COVID-19 vaccination to its employees when made available after administering to the country's priority population.
Companies such as Whirlpool and Arvind Advanced Materials are also planning to vaccinate their employees against contagion.
Companies to restart hiring on vaccine rollout
Many firms who had kept their hiring plans on hold are again looking to restart hiring on the vaccine rollout development. The names include Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, Reliance Industries, and ITC, among others.
According to a Teamlease survey covering 815 small, medium, and large businesses spanning 21 industries, 27% of companies show hiring intent for January-March, up from 21% in October-December.
"I think the vaccine for private employees will be available in March. So, we are restarting the hiring process so that we can onboard people from April onwards," said the HR manager of a mid-size Pune based IT firm.