As Covid-19 cases witness an uptick, leading private hospitals in India are adopting a cautious stance on vaccine procurement, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET). Senior executives from these hospitals highlighted the absence of vaccine stocks and expressed a reluctance to acquire them at this time. They explained that as the surge in cases is attributed to a mild variant of the virus, hospitals are awaiting government clarity on vaccination strategies.
Speaking to ET, executives emphasised that the current variant is a milder form of Covid-19, resulting in fewer hospitalisations and lower disease severity. Given this context, private hospitals are opting to "wait and watch" rather than initiate immediate vaccine procurement. Several hospitals also indicated that they have not acquired vaccines since 2021 due to low demand, depleting supplies, and a drop in the number of vaccinations each month.
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India has reported an increase of 628 new Covid-19 cases in a single day, contributing to a rise in the active caseload, reaching 4,054. The health ministry has confirmed 63 cases of the JN.1 Covid-19 sub-variant in India till December 24. Goa reports the highest detections, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. A government directive has urged states to send all Covid-19 test swabs for whole genome sequencing, enhancing vigilance for concerning virus variants.
The JN.1 variant is a new subvariant of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) classified the JN.1 variant as "variant of interest" on December 19, but stated that it did not hold much threat to the public. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, runny nose and headaches. Symptoms such as gastrointestinal problems like nausea loss of appetite, and extreme fatigue have also been reported by some patients. The agency added that the current Covid vaccines should protect against it.
On December 18, Union Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant urged all states to implement any and all necessary public health measures and arrangements to minimise the risk of transmission. State and Union territories have also been advised to conduct more RT-PCR tests and to submit positive samples to the Indian SARS CoV-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories for genome sequencing.
India's first mRNA-based Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine, Gemcovac by Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, has also been approved as a booster shot.
Private hospitals are awaiting government guidelines on vaccination strategies and intend to align their actions accordingly. Executives highlight a significant decline in vaccine demand throughout the year, with limited uptake even during previous increases in Covid-19 cases. The current surge is seen as unlikely to drive substantial changes in vaccine demand.
