E-pharmacies plan COVID-19 vaccination; PharmEasy to vaccinate 3 crore people in coming months

As policies help private COVID-19 vaccine market evolve in India, e-pharmacies are trying to tap the opportunity too. PharmEasy, one of India's leading digital healthcare platforms, plans to vaccinate over 3 crore people via camps and vaccine centres through its 5,000 partner centres pan India in the next few quarters. Individuals, companies, old age homes etc. have to register with the e-pharmacy website to avail its vaccination drive. As soon as PharmEasy starts receiving the vaccine supplies, it will contact all the registered companies and individuals with the necessary information on location, timings and pricing. The brand of vaccine being administered will depend on the availability and price of each dose of vaccine will be in tune with what the manufacturers decide, said the company.

Given the current second wave of the pandemic, the government of India has invited private companies to participate in accelerating the vaccination drive. From May 1, all legal adults (above the age of 18) will be eligible for vaccination against COVID-19. States and corporate entities can procure vaccines from the manufacturer directly too. Currently two COVID-19 vaccines are available in India, with a third having received the emergency authorisation.

"Our vaccination drive aims to provide ease of access to vaccination which can help us to achieve herd immunity at the earliest. Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the second wave, we wanted to contribute our bit in breaking the chain by setting up vaccination camps and centres to facilitate this," said Dharmil Sheth, Co-founder, PharmEasy.

PharmEasy claims to have over 80,000 partner retailers, 5,000 doctors and a pharma supply chain facility enabling last-mile delivery of cold chain products. "In the last 24 hours, PharmEasy has already received an overwhelming response, with over 50 lakh individuals and 750 organisations across the length and breadth of the country, making a soft commitment to vaccinate themselves and their respective families," said the company.

PharmEasy, part of API Holdings, a digital healthcare platform. connects over 60,000 brick and mortar pharmacies and 4,000 doctors in 16,000 zip codes across India.

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