Uday Kotak Urges PM Modi To Include Private Sector In Covid-19 Vaccination Drive

The industry body separately urged that businesses in the country would benefit significantly from the roll-out and that the private sector could play a pivotal role in enhancing essential supplies so that more than 80% of citizens are covered.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: The government is yet to involve the Indian private sector in Covid vaccinations across the country despite the world's most prosperous banker Uday Kotak writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as president of the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) a month ago. According to Mr. Kotak's letter to the Prime Minister on 14 January, the hospitals should be allowed to vaccinate critical patients and pay clients to ensure that the vaccine reaches its full potential within the shortest possible time without diverting resources from the government's beneficiary strategy.

A CII official confirmed to ABP News the letter written to the government. The industry body separately urged that businesses in the country would benefit significantly from the roll-out and that the private sector could play a pivotal role in enhancing essential supplies so that more than 80% of citizens are covered.

CII recommended that to ensure faster roll-out and to provide confidence to workers at the workplace, business enterprises could be allowed to vaccinate their employees and assist in the roll-out for surrounding communities.
According to estimates, the private sector involvement will result in the inoculation of an additional 10 crore workers in the formal sector, and local communities could access the vaccine.

Many corporate houses in the private sector are in talks with the vaccine manufacturers to procure the vaccine in bulk for their employees and families. However, the government now regulates the indigenously manufactured vaccines, COVISHIELD & COVAXIN, and has not permitted the vaccine manufacturers to sell the vaccines in the private market.

The government announced on Wednesday that vaccination coverage in the country has increased to 9.2 million doses, with India ranking third after the US (55.2 million doses) and the UK ranking third (16.12 million doses)

This is despite the fact the US and the UK have completed more than 60 days of vaccination, while India has completed 33 days since the inoculation started on 16 January. India has been the fastest country globally to cross all milestones ranging from 1 million to 7 million total vaccinations so far, even as it is primarily vaccinating the healthcare workers and frontline workers.

"We are third globally when it comes to vaccination. We could easily be the world leader in the vaccination program if the government involves the private sector in COVID-19 vaccination," an Indian private sector official told ABP News.