The Punjab government, facing criticism from the Centre and state opposition parties for selling Covid vaccines at a premium to private hospitals, asked these facilities to return all stock on Friday.
The dramatic change came after opposition parties Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed the Congress government for “selling” to private hospitals doses that were supposed to be given away for free.
The federal government also wrote to the state government, seeking clarification on reports that it had profited from the sale of vaccines. Prakash Javdekar, a Union minister, also slammed the Punjab government’s decision.
The vaccine, which was procured at a state government rate of $400 per dose, was sold to private hospitals for $1,060 per dose, according to the Hindustan Times. The dose was also sold for $1,560 in private hospitals.
Following Punjab state health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu’s announcement that he had ordered an investigation into the allegations, the state government issued a new order withdrawing “one-time” vaccination instructions to private hospitals for people aged 18 to 45. The government will now provide the recalled vaccine doses to this age group for free, according to the minister.
“The order of providing one-time limited vaccine doses through private hospitals has not been taken in the right spirit and is hereby withdrawn. Further, it has been decided that the private hospitals should return forthwith all the vaccine doses available with them,” Vikas Garg, who is in charge of Punjab’s Covid vaccination programme, said in the order.
Earlier, Balbir Sidhu said: “The vaccination procurement is done by officers who don’t belong to my department. Sometimes people take wrong decisions.” Sidhu, who is already upset with certain officers for not involving him in key decisions relating to the Covid management, also took up the matter with chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Amarinder was apprised that how a decision taken by certain officers, had damaged the image of the government. The CM, it is learnt, asked Sidhu to take corrective measures immediately.
