More private hospitals to be utilised for increasing vaccination coverage, speed: Govt

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New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday said that more private hospitals will be utilised to increase the speed and coverage of COVID-19 vaccination in the coming days.

Responding to a query during a press briefing here, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said out of 10,000 hospitals being used for administering the vaccines in a day, 2,000 hospitals are private.

“Approximately 10,000 hospitals are being used for administering vaccines in a day. Out of these, 2,000 hospitals are private. This shows how essential is the private sector and it plays the role of a force multiplier which is acknowledge by the government. In the coming days, more private sector hospitals will be utilized to increase the vaccination coverage and speed,” Bhushan said.

He also said that private sector is playing a vital role in many of the government’s health programmes.

“Out of the 24,000 hospitals under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojna which are providing cashless treatment, 11,000 hospitals are of private sector. From last two years private sector is involved. Similarly, the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) is completely based on private sector except the dispensaries. More than 800 private hospitals are already a part of CGHS,” Bhushan said.