Coronavirus vaccine and private institutions: the possibility of buying the vaccine themselves

“The Vilnius Municipality has made a decision and, as of February 22, private health institutions will also be able to vaccinate patients who have registered with them. The InMedica Clinic in Vilnius has been designated as an organizing institution that will be able to vaccinate patients from its own institution and from other institutions.

We are also considering the possibility that the institutions will be larger and have a greater flow of patients who enroll, and patients enrolled in smaller health care facilities will be referred to larger vaccination centers, that is, the InMedica clinic, where they will be vaccinated. “- Doctor Laimutis Paškevičius, president of the Lithuanian Association of Private Health Institutions, told the Delfi portal.

According to the interlocutor, initially, the institutions involved in the vaccination process have high requirements. One of them is filling in a lot of paper forms, which complicates the process. Now the requirements have been relaxed.

“As much as I spoke with colleagues who also do vaccines in the public sector, now there has been a significant decrease in those paper forms where the patient puts signatures. But in general, there are still a number of forms that must be included in the SPB, as well as consent forms for the vaccination of patients. This is where if there were any litigation, the patient would not say that they had been forcibly vaccinated. Now it was decided that it would be possible to reduce paperwork as much as possible, that is, to collect data in an electronic format, ”said L. Paškevičius.

Until now, private health care institutions have been involved in vaccinating the population only in the Vilnius municipality. Other municipalities did not request help from private institutions.

“It is weaker with other municipalities, they do not apply, there is no communication. They vaccinate the population on their own, coordinate the vaccination of the population themselves, and that is probably enough for them. There is a unique style of activity in each municipality, ”said L. Paškevičius.

However, the interviewee was surprised that until now there is no common municipal model in Lithuania on how the population should be vaccinated.

“As vaccination is delegated to the municipalities, each one acts according to their own ingenuity. It would be more convenient to consult and have a common model than the interpretation itself ”, thinks L. Paškevičius.

At present, as mentioned, the activities of private medical institutions providing vaccination in Vilnius Municipality are organized by the InMedica network of clinics. It was chosen because it is a large group with the largest number of patients enrolled in the capital’s medical facilities.

“This facility will send vaccines to several other facilities that will. It will not necessarily vaccinate all patients who enroll in it, but it will be the one who will vaccinate patients who enroll in small institutions. And the larger institutions that have more patients. they will probably be vaccinated by taking the vaccine from the InMedica warehouses, ”explained L. Paškevičius.

One of the groups of health institutions that is ready to vaccinate its patients is Affidea Lietuva.

As Vitalius Orlov, CEO of Affidea Lietuva, told Delfi, they are fully prepared to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, especially since this vaccine is no different from other vaccine injection procedures.

The same was confirmed by Inga Grigienė, General Director of Therapy and Surgery at the Baltic and American Clinic.

“We are part of the Lithuanian health care system and we must give the patient the option that they want to be treated or vaccinated. We do not see any barriers to vaccination, we hope that the vaccine distribution chain will run efficiently and smoothly. We take the vaccine with great responsibility: according to the requirements of our clinic, the patient is examined by a doctor before each vaccination, assesses possible side effects, reactions, the patient’s condition, provides all the information and enters the data on vaccination in the e-health system.

We hope that in the near future we will have the opportunity to offer COVID-19 vaccines ”, expected I. Grigienė.

The interlocutor added that the demand for a commercial vaccine among clinic clients would be really high: “Until now, private treatment facilities do not have access to paid vaccines, although we often ask our patients when they will be able to get vaccinated at our clinic. .

We also have a constantly updated list of patients awaiting COVID-19 vaccination who wish to be vaccinated at our clinic.

We are also ready to vaccinate foreign citizens, members of the diplomatic corps residing in Lithuania, from whom we have already received interest in this opportunity. “

So, can coronavirus vaccination be expected to soon be available in private clinics, as well as a private commercial vaccine?

L. Paškevičius said that this probability is real and is being negotiated.

“In this sense, we have called on the Government and the Ministry of Health (SAM) to approve that if private organizations could obtain alternative vaccines not approved by the European Commission through vaccine providers, this would be accepted as a good practice and accepted by the public vaccination.

It is understandable that when the European Commission negotiated with manufacturers, it spoke of tens or hundreds of millions of doses. In this case, the price of the vaccine is one. And if one or more institutions cooperate, the prices will definitely be much higher, perhaps even dozens of times. It seems that manufacturers will not have much interest in selling vaccines in small doses, when there is now a great demand in the world. Either way, there are probably both people and employers who are willing to pay for it.

If there is such an opportunity, if SAM and the Government agree that it is a good practice, an even greater protection of the public interest, since even more people could be vaccinated in a shorter period of time, the private institutions will do everything possible. to bring the vaccine.

There is not much innovation here. For example, the flu vaccine is provided every year by state and private institutions that offer the vaccine commercially if people pay. That practice is common. Only to the extent that private institutions probably do not buy cold vaccines, but those that can be administered in the usual way.

I can only emphasize that the health facilities themselves do not have the right to bring the vaccine. They should arrive in Lithuania only through accredited providers. We are committed to transporting only those vaccines that have been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

So far, there is no talk of Sputnik or other vaccines that are at some stage of the approval process. But of course it will be possible to negotiate with other manufacturers when their vaccines are approved for import possibility, ”said L. Paškevičius.

The interviewee pointed out that the demand for a paid vaccine against the coronavirus is very high, especially among those whose turn to vaccinate will only come in summer.

“There are certain teams where the competence of the employees is special and it is difficult to change them. If large numbers of workers fell ill, production would practically stop, so in some places employers would be happy to fund vaccination. Individuals are also asking about the possibility of getting vaccinated for money, “said L. Paškevičius.

According to V. Orlov, Affidea Lietuva would gladly contribute to the fact that as many citizens as possible were vaccinated and it would be possible to return to a normal life as soon as possible, so they would be happy to receive commercial vaccines, unfortunately. , this is not possible.

As you know, producers have signed agreements with the European Union, which has set quotas for countries according to population. Manufacturers undertake to meet the needs of Member States, and then if there are more registered vaccines on the market that are approved by the relevant authorities, we will also have the opportunity to participate in the purchase and people will be able to be vaccinated accordingly. Only approved vaccines will be purchased, because otherwise these procedures cannot be performed, ”emphasized V. Orlov.