Vaccine orders only accepted via CoWIN, along with a monthly cap for private hospitals

Private hospitals in the nation will no longer be able to obtain COVID-19 vaccines directly from producers. These hospitals would be required to make orders on the CoWIN site beginning Thursday, July 1st, according to the Union Health Ministry.

In order to balance limited supply and minimise wastage, the government has placed a ceiling, or "maximum limit," on the amount of doses a private hospital can acquire in a given month.

MoHFW will notify states and UTs of the total number of doses available for private CVCs in a month. They will aggregate demand from private CVCs while keeping these figures in mind.

The expected monthly consumption will be calculated by multiplying the daily average consumption during the week of the Private CVC's choosing in the preceding month by 30. As a result, the maximum limit will be double the calculated number.

Demand will be aggregated solely for the Serum Institute's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

Government approval will not be required as successful filing of purchase orders through CoWIN will suffice.

Vaccines will be distributed to hospitals that are participating in the immunisation push for the first time based on the number of beds available.

The modification of the private hospital acquisition procedure comes in response to requests from several states, notably Tamil Nadu and Odisha, for a change in the 75:25 allotment of dosages.

The "liberalised vaccination policy" that went into effect on June 21st after the central government re-took control of vaccines from states enabling private hospitals to acquire 25% of a vaccine manufacturer's monthly production.

The remaining 75% is for the centre to acquire and disperse to states depending on factors such as population, disease burden, and immunisation progress.