Govt Caps Rs 250 Per COVID-19 Vaccine Dose, 17% People Willing To Pay Up To INR 200: Reports

The Government of India in a move to amplify the COVID-19 vaccination, allowed close to 24000 private hospitals across the country to start inoculation of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in the next round of vaccination programme. 

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The Government of India is set to begin phase two of its ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive on March 2. Ahead of the drive, the Government of India in a move to amplify the COVID-19 vaccination, allowed close to 24000 private hospitals across the country to start inoculation of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in the next round of vaccination programme. 

Taking note of the latest orders by the central government, LocalCircles has 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.

As per the survey report, 21% Indians currently plan to take their COVID-19 vaccine at a private hospital. The Survey results indicated a majority of 35% of citizens in favour of taking the vaccine at a government center”, while 21% said they “will be taking it through a private hospital”. There were also 27% of citizens who said they “will take but not sure how”. It is noteworthy that another 27% citizens plan to take the vaccine but are currently unsure about whether they will go to a private hospital or a government center. 

The survey agency further conducted a poll to understand the tentative perception as to how much are people willing to pay for two doses if any of their family members is eligible for the vaccine in this next phase.

In response, 17% said “up to INR 200”, 22% said “up to INR 300”, 24% said “up to INR 600”, 16% said “up to INR 1000”, and 6% said “above INR 1000”, while 
15% couldn’t say. The findings of the poll suggests that 63% of those planning to take the COVID-19 vaccine in the next phase at a private hospital will not pay more than INR 600 in total charges for two doses. 

According to the latest update by the Health Ministry, India has so far administered 1,42,42,547 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Of these,  66,68,974 healthcare workers (HCW) and 51,19,695 front-line workers have received the first dose while 24,53,878 HCWs have received the second dose.