New Delhi: After tying up with hospitals to provide quarantine facilities, luxury hotels are now offering ‘Covid-19 vaccination packages’.
According to pamphlets doing the rounds on social media, Radisson Hotel in Hyderabad Hitec City has come up with a ‘vaccination package’, priced at Rs 2,999, which includes a comfortable stay, healthy breakfast, dinner and wifi, along with “vaccination by experts from a renowned hospital” and “clinical consultation on request”.
Meanwhile, another hotel, The Lalit in Mumbai, is asking people to “get vaccinated and rest” at their premises with two packages, called ‘Experience 1’ and ‘Experience 2’.
The first, priced at Rs 3,500, allows people to rest at a hotel room after the vaccination for three to four hours. The package includes a “set meal” as well. The second package allows those vaccinated to stay at the hotel overnight for Rs 5,000. This includes meals as well.
But the pamphlet has made it clear that the offer can be availed only on the day a person gets vaccinated. So people need to carry a valid vaccination certification to “avail the…experience”.
Here’s Lalit Mumbai offering multi-choice deals too (found via Twitter). pic.twitter.com/Wl61X1qdNL
— Avinash Paliwal (@PaliwalAvi) May 28, 2021
However, Twitter users have questioned the absence of any vaccination guidelines for hotels and also noted that with this, the Covid vaccine has become a “proper luxury item”.
Where are the hotel vaccination guidelines @MoHFW_INDIA? @Radisson
https://t.co/dvNpXkblpH pic.twitter.com/C3rVhCRXDp
— Malini Aisola (@malini_aisola) May 28, 2021
A user asked how Radisson was getting the vaccines while one pointed out how the price was “unaffordable for many”.
Like Amit’s son, it seems Radisson also has some serious connects in the government. How does it get vaccines? pic.twitter.com/7TnNpRyLtp
— Syed Usman सैय्यद उस्मान (@Sydusm) May 29, 2021
So even Radisson has vaccines for a price thats unaffordable for many. But common man cannot have access to vaccination in Telangana!
This is 21st century New India. Owned and run by corporates.
Vaccines and Profits for Corporates!
Misery and death for common people https://t.co/97t8ciXabk
— N Sai Balaji | ఎన్ సాయి బాలాజీ (@nsaibalaji) May 28, 2021
The pamphlets also had some supporters on social media, with some terming the packages as “not a bad idea”.
Hotel Vaccination Package!!
Not a bad idea☺️ @Radisson #Hyderabad #vaccine pic.twitter.com/NCKuuFgmcV— Gaurav Dwivedi (@meGauravDwivedi) May 28, 2021
In a statement issued Saturday, the Radisson Hotel Group said that this was localised activity and was not run by the group.
“We would like to clarify that Radisson Hotel Group is not running any such offers at a group level. This is localised activity by the hotel, which is a franchised unit and managed by another operator,” the statement noted.
Also read: The young are driving Mandya’s 2nd Covid wave — 45% of its cases are in 21-40 age group
Covid vaccines India
In the past few months, the vaccination drive in India has witnessed several crests and troughs. States across the country have blamed vaccine shortage for either halting their vaccination efforts or slowing them down.
The month of May also saw a drop in the inoculation rate, dropping to 19 lakh a day compared to a daily average of 29 lakh per day in April.
However, the head of the CoWIN platform R.S. Sharma Friday said that the vaccination drive for people between age 18-45 years will pick up pace soon and the shortage of doses is a temporary problem.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “theatrics” for the second wave of the pandemic and called the government’s vaccination policy flawed Friday.
Speaking at a virtual press conference, Gandhi said that multiple waves of the pandemic would hit India if the strategy is not corrected and vaccinations continue at the current pace.
This report has been updated to include the Radisson Hotel Group’s statement
Also read: First of its kind study in Lancet shows how indoor events can take place safely during pandemic