COVID-19: Apollo, Fortis, Max to start vaccinating people above 18 from May 1

New Delhi: Even as several state governments have conveyed inability to start the third phase of the vaccination drive due to shortage of vaccines, three of the top tier private hospitals – Apollo, Max and Fortis – have announced that they will begin the drive from May 1 in accordance with the central government’s rollout plan.

The upcoming phase will cover people in the age group of 18 to 45 years. The private hospital chains will begin inoculation at a limited number of centres.

The Apollo Hospitals Group has said that they have made arrangements to procure vaccines directly from the manufacturers.

“Realizing the criticality of vaccinating citizens to mitigate the impact of the second wave of COVID infections, Apollo Hospitals has taken the initiative and made arrangements to procure vaccines directly from the manufacturers, as per the government directive,” the Apollo Hospitals Group said in a statement.

Notably, several states have claimed that they are unable to procure vaccines from private manufacturers due to the latter’s commitments to other clients.

The two vaccine manufacturers - Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech – are selling the doses at a much higher price to the private hospitals.

While SII charges Rs 600 per dose to private hospitals, Bharat Biotech has priced it at Rs 1200 per dose.

Meanwhile, Fortis Healthcare has said it would commence coronavirus vaccination for adults at all its centres in north India from May 1.

"Fortis will administer COVID vaccines for 18+ at its centres across North India from tomorrow," a statement from the hospital said.

Max hospital is also reportedly set to start inoculating at its various centres.