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Vaccines

Indian Conglomerates Gear Up to Secure COVID-19 Vaccines for Employees

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Indian conglomerates are preparing to secure COVID-19 vaccines for their employees once government approvals are in place, with top officials stating that companies are ready to absorb the vaccination costs. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has set up a 25-member task force to fast-track the inoculation drive for private sector employees. Companies are keen to get the inoculation done quickly for employee safety and to ensure a safe return to workplaces this year.Industry leaders believe that vaccinating employees will help flatten the infection curve, as the current government vaccination plan only covers about 30 crore people, leaving a majority of the population uncovered and under threat. Companies are exploring options to procure vaccines from manufacturers and suppliers, with diversified miner Vedanta exploring options to procure vaccines for its employees and in talks with manufacturers and suppliers.

Key Takeaways:

  • Top Indian conglomerates, including the Godrej Group, Tata Group, Mahindra, Marico, Maruti Suzuki, TVS Motor, and Vedanta, are preparing to secure COVID-19 vaccines for their employees.
  • The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has set up a 25-member task force to fast-track the inoculation drive for private sector employees, including AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, Medanta founder Naresh Trehan, and Tata Steel's TV Narendran.
  • Companies are keen to get the inoculation done quickly for employee safety and to ensure a safe return to workplaces this year.
  • Industry leaders believe that vaccinating employees will help flatten the infection curve, as the current government vaccination plan only covers about 30 crore people, leaving a majority of the population uncovered and under threat.
  • Companies are exploring options to procure vaccines from manufacturers and suppliers, with diversified miner Vedanta exploring options to procure vaccines for its employees and in talks with manufacturers and suppliers for this.
  • Companies are ready to absorb the vaccination costs, with an Industry official stating that companies are willing to absorb the costs as part of their corporate social responsibility spending.

Statistics:

  • 30 crore: The number of people covered under the current government vaccination plan, leaving a majority of the population uncovered and under threat.
  • 25: The number of members in the Confederation of Indian Industry's task force to fast-track the inoculation drive for private sector employees.
  • 3,000: The number of health workers at Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur who will be vaccinated under the government's priority list.

Sources:

  • Chandrajit Banerjee, CII director general
  • Sunil Duggal, Vedanta group chief executive
  • Randeep Guleria, AIIMS director
  • Naresh Trehan, Medanta founder
  • Shobana Kamineni, Apollo Hospitals
  • Jamshyd Godrej, Godrej Group
  • R Mukundan, Tata Chemicals
  • Hari Bhartia, Jubilant Life Sciences
  • TV Narendran, Tata Steel

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