Pharma companies rue government's sloppy response for swine flu vaccine stocks piling up on shelves
Pharma companies rue government's sloppy response for swine flu vaccine stocks piling up on shelves
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Pune, epicentre of last year's swine flu epidemic, is giving a lukewarm response to the preventive vaccine for swine flu with barely any stocks moving off pharmacy shelves.
And manufacturers have good reason to worry.
More than Rs 220 crore has been spent on the import and development of indigenous H1N1 vaccine available in the market.
Slack sales
City pharmacists claimed that vaccines manufactured by pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila and the Serum Institute of India are not doing too well.
"The initial response to the vaccines was okay, because of the media hype, but now sale is very slow," said Mahendra Pitaliya, co-ordinator of the Chemists' Association of Poona District. "Both Cadila's Vaxiflu-S and Serum Institute's Nasovac have sold about 3,000 doses off the counter so far."
Executive Director of Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla, agreed that the initial media hype did help stocks move faster. He pegged the sale of vaccine in Pune at 80,000 doses.
Poonawalla said that hospitals and doctors had directly been taking the vaccine from them, which was resulting in fewer sales from chemists. "It is true though that sale of the vaccine should have been higher, given that swine flu is spreading once more," he said.
He blamed the government for being 'thanda' (lackadaisical) about the promotion of the vaccine.
"Earlier, they were monitoring us and promoting us to develop the vaccine as fast as possible. And now that it is in the market, they are not showing any initiative to promote the vaccine," said Poonawalla. "It's time the government stopped being lethargic."
Why immunise doctors?
Health workers, in the meanwhile, continue to refuse getting immunised for free by the foreign vaccine imported by the government.
Child specialist, Dr Sharad Agharkhedkar who is also the president of Indian Medical Association (Pune), reiterated the view that the government needs to set its priorities right.
"Why are they so adamant only on doctors taking it?" asked Agharkhedkar. "Doctors are a small group. But the public, at large, needs to be administered the vaccine as that would help develop herd immunity and will arrest the of spread of the virus faster."
Govt ploy?
An official from the state health department, who requesting anonymity, confirmed that government officials had been instructed to promote only the French vaccine that the government has purchased.
"We have about 34,000 doses lying with us. These have to be disposed of by October," said the official. "We have been told to concentrate on that. We don't know how the other two vaccines are doing."
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