Difficult to make an appointment for HPV vaccine: Private hospitals with increased prices and flooded ordering companies

　　Behind the prevalence and chaos of proxy appointment services are problems such as the difficulty of making appointments in community health service centers caused by the scarcity of vaccines, and the expensive appointments in private hospitals.

The reporter's investigation found that if you want to make an appointment for the nine-valent HPV vaccination, some health service centers have to wait in line for half a year, and compared with the health service center, the cost of private hospitals is equivalent to 1,500 to 1,600 yuan higher.

　　Cheng Cheng (pseudonym) was tempted by the promotional slogans of the "Rainbow Doctor" platform such as "sufficient seedlings are ready to be photographed" and "estimated 1-2 months (vaccination)".

In September 2022, Cheng Cheng purchased the nine-valent HPV vaccine reservation service at a price of 5,820 yuan.

Five months have passed, and she has so far failed to make an appointment for vaccination, but the order shows that it has been cancelled.

　　"Too many people make appointments and the number of vaccines is limited" is the only explanation given by the customer service.

Although the customer service said that a refund could be made, Cheng Cheng, who had waited for 5 months, could not accept the result.

　　In the chaotic HPV vaccine appointment market, Cheng Cheng's encounter is not an isolated case.

The Beijing News Shell Finance reporter found that the booking channels provided by the Internet platform are flooded with the previous generation of booking services. The relevant companies not only provide misleading information to induce consumers to place orders, but their service quality is also difficult to guarantee.

　　Behind the prevalence of reservation services and chaos is the scarcity of vaccines, the difficulty of making appointments in community health service centers, and the high cost of making appointments in private hospitals. It is troubling people who want to get vaccinated against HPV.

　　The reporter found out that if you want to make an appointment for the nine-valent HPV vaccination, some health service centers have to wait in line for half a year, and compared with the health service center, the cost of private hospitals is equivalent to 1,500 to 1,600 yuan higher.

　　However, Merck is increasing its supply to the domestic market, and the domestic nine-valent vaccine is also rushing in. Under the adjustment of supply and demand, the market may gradually become standardized.

The Internet platform is flooded with reservation services,

　　Cheng Cheng said that he discovered the "Rainbow Doctor" platform after searching for HPV vaccines through Alipay, so he placed an order on the platform.

　　The Beijing News Shell Finance reporter tried to find that after searching for HPV vaccines on Alipay and entering the private vaccine service interface after Ali Health Vaccines, a private medical institution often has multiple appointment links attached to it.

A reporter from Shell Finance and Economics browsed and found that among the multiple links under the Shanghai Lanhai Outpatient Department of a private hospital, only the first link is suspected to be the private hospital’s appointment channel, and the rest of the links are almost all third-party businesses. The fourth link is from "Rainbow Doctor".

　　This display method is extremely misleading. First of all, except for the first link, the reservation service under the private medical institution is not an appointment link specifying the institution.

Rather, it is a collection of multiple appointment booking links of the agency booking business, and the lowest price displayed is often the agency booking service of an undesignated medical institution in the city area.

There are also private vaccination service links that include links to designated institutions, but if you want to designate the medical institution through the appointment service, the appointment fee is generally higher than that of directly contacting the private hospital.

　　In addition to setting misleading information on agency selection and prices, agency booking agencies also use information gaps to mislead consumers when it comes to appointment times.

A reporter from the Beijing News Shell Finance and Economics browsed and found that in the reservation package currently provided by "Rainbow Doctor" in the city where Cheng Cheng is located, the link of the nine-valent vaccine that can be vaccinated between 9-45 years old is marked with the words "pre-sale".

　　However, the order information shows that when Cheng Cheng placed the order through Rainbow Doctor in September 2022, there was no pre-sale word on the package he chose, but it was marked with "estimated 1-2 months", "available within 60 days", etc. Very misleading typeface.

However, the order it placed was doomed not to be completed within 2 months.

　　So far, Merck's nine-valent vaccine is still the only nine-valent vaccine approved in China.

Its nine-valent vaccine was not announced until August 30, 2022, and the applicability of the vaccine was extended to females aged 9-45.

Previously, only women aged 16-26 could receive its nine-valent vaccine.

　　According to the Beijing News Shell Finance reporter, although since 2022, age-extending vaccination of the nine-valent HPV vaccine has been carried out in many places, and provinces and cities such as Qinghai, Hebei, and Tianjin have taken the lead in landing, but the current age-extending vaccination of the nine-valent HPV vaccine It has not yet been implemented in some cities, such as the city where Cheng Cheng is located.

Therefore, in May 2022 when Chengcheng placed an order, the platform could not make an appointment for 1-2 months at all. It has not been scheduled for vaccination so far, or it is not because there are many people in the queue, but because the city where it is located is more than 26 years old. , still can not receive 9-valent vaccine, can only choose 4-valent or 2-valent.

However, during the communication with the customer service, the customer service did not indicate to Cheng Cheng that the vaccines he currently ordered could not be vaccinated in the city, but said that they were waiting for the hospital to schedule.

　　In addition, a reporter from Shell Finance and Economics found that the seemingly formal booking agency, or the skin of "booking on behalf of" and the reality of "scalpers".

　　When placing an order with a low-price link, consumers cannot choose a medical institution where they will be vaccinated against HPV before making an appointment.

As a consumer, the reporter consulted the medical institution that the reservation service was connected with. Rainbow Doctor’s customer service told the reporter that they did not know which hospital would have the vaccine when making the appointment.

The customer service also stated that the high price of the vaccine reservation service it provides is due to the company’s cooperation with more medical institutions. When the reporter asked which specific medical institutions it cooperated with, the customer service said that it was inconvenient to provide a list of cooperation.

　　So, how to arrange the "arrangement" of Doctor Rainbow?

　　A reporter from Shell Finance previously placed an order for Doctor Rainbow’s “9-price HPV vaccine for 7-day spot” at a price of 5,114 yuan, and received an appointment text message from Doctor Rainbow.

A few days after submitting personal information on a certain webpage, I received a call from the platform robot customer service informing me that the appointment was successful, and reminded the reporter that the platform would return the vaccine payment.

　　It is worth mentioning that the "refund of vaccine payment" here is because the hospital charges for HPV vaccine vaccination are all real-name system, and the institution cannot pay the fee on behalf of it.

After the platform deducts the "subscription service fee", the vaccinators need to pay the cost of three doses of nine-price HPV vaccine to the community hospital by themselves.

The subsequent service processes are implemented by the hospital, and the booking agency does not provide any services.

　　The platform made an appointment for the reporter to get HPV vaccine injection in a community hospital. The staff of the hospital told the reporter that the backstage of the hospital inquired about the reporter’s appointment order, but he did not know how to make the appointment successfully. The reporter could also make an appointment by himself through the WeChat public account Vaccines in the hospital.

However, after the reporter inquired about the official account, he saw that the hospital displayed the status of "no vaccine" for the nine-valent HPV vaccine.

　　At the same time, it is difficult to guarantee the quality of service provided by the ordering agent, and it is difficult for consumers to protect their rights.

It is understood that the situation of Cheng Cheng is not an isolated case. Many consumers have reported on social platforms that their orders placed by Rainbow Doctor have a link to mark the spot, but they do not arrange vaccination for a long time, and the waiting time is as long as one year. After the first injection, there is no service, and after-sales problems are difficult to solve.

In rights protection cases, many consumers can only choose to refund after waiting for a long time to no avail.

Difficult to make an appointment and expensive to make an appointment: Health service centers have to wait in line for half a year, and private hospitals generally increase their prices by more than 1,000 yuan

　　There is a certain information gap in the appointment of HPV vaccine, the "difficulty" of making an appointment in community health service centers, and the "expensive" appointment of private hospitals, etc., which provide a living space for agent booking service providers.

According to Shell Finance and Economics, the current institutions where the reporter is located can make appointments for HPV vaccination, including community health service centers, hospitals (including public hospitals and private hospitals), and health departments of some medical examination centers.

　　Among the above appointment channels, community health service centers charge more formally. Taking the nine-valent vaccine as an example, it only costs 3969 yuan to receive three doses of nine-valent HPV vaccine at the community health service center.

But for ordinary consumers, it is relatively difficult to make an appointment at a community health service center.

　　The Beijing News Shell Finance reporter learned that because vaccinations are managed locally, community health service centers often require the vaccinators to provide proof of permanent residence.

A community health service center stated that it has stopped online appointments for HPV vaccines and changed to outpatient on-site review appointments.

The person who made the appointment needs to present his ID card and one of the house book, residence permit, and lease contract of the jurisdiction at the same time at a fixed time, go to the site for review, and make an appointment registration after the review.

　　And make an appointment for vaccination at a community health service center, or you may have to experience a long waiting time.

The staff of the community health service center said that there are currently a large number of appointments for the nine-valent vaccine, and it is estimated that it may take half a year to queue up, and the exact time depends on the supply of vaccines.

　　It is much simpler and faster to make an appointment for HPV vaccination in a private hospital.

On February 14, a reporter from Shell Finance and Economics of the Beijing News inquired about the appointment status of nine-valent HPV vaccination in two private hospitals, Angel Maternity Hospital and Jiahe Women's and Children's Hospital.

The staff of the two hospitals told reporters that they met the precautions and could make an appointment for vaccination the next day at the earliest.

Angel Maternity Hospital stated that to make an appointment for vaccination, you only need to provide your phone number and name.

　　However, compared with health service centers, the price of private hospitals is also much higher. Taking the nine-valent HPV vaccine as an example, the three-dose nine-valent vaccine at Angel Maternity Hospital costs 5,600 yuan, while the appointment price at Jiahe Women and Children’s Hospital is 5,369 yuan. Yuan.

Compared with community health service centers, it is equivalent to a higher cost of 1,500 to nearly 1,600 yuan.

　　From the perspective of the fee structure, according to the staff of the two hospitals, the fees include the cost of three shots of vaccines, vaccination fees and medical service fees.

On Dianping, the details of the nine-valent vaccine package of Jiahe Women and Children's Hospital have marked the charge composition in detail.

Including the cost of three-shot vaccine 3894 yuan, 75 yuan for three-shot vaccination and 1500 yuan for medical services.

　　Compared with the health service center, Jiahe Women and Children's Hospital charged 1,500 yuan more for medical services.

As for why this part of the fee was charged, the Beijing News Shell Finance reporter further consulted the staff.

The hospital service staff said that the medical services involved are mainly for doctors to interview and evaluate whether I am suitable for vaccination after coming to the hospital, and to observe after vaccination to prevent adverse reactions.

It is understood that no matter where the HPV vaccine is vaccinated, observation is a normal vaccination process.

　　In addition to increasing prices in the form of medical service fees, private hospitals may also bundle other services for their vaccination services in order to pursue more premiums.

Jiahe Women and Children's Hospital's nine-price vaccine package on Dianping is called [Nine-Price Vaccination] Nine-Price Cervical Physical Examination Package for Women.

Previously, a number of media broke the news that private hospitals have bundled and sold "medical examination packages" for HPV vaccine appointments. Regarding whether the package includes physical examinations, Shell Finance reporters asked the hospital staff, and the staff responded that physical examinations are no longer included. Previously, the package was priced at 5,980 yuan, including medical examination.

Why is it so hard to get a vaccine?

Nine-valent vaccine production has long been dominated by one company,

　　Many consumers who have reserved HPV vaccines have reported that quadrivalent and nine-valent HPV vaccines are currently in short supply in public hospitals and health service centers, while bivalent vaccines are relatively easy to make appointments for vaccination.

　　The supply of HPV vaccine has a certain relationship with the number of manufacturers.

Since 2016, HPV vaccines have entered the Chinese market.

Judging from the approval time of domestic HPV vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline’s bivalent HPV vaccine was approved in 2016, while Merck’s quadrivalent and nine-valent HPV vaccines were approved in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

　　In 2019 and 2022, two bivalent HPV vaccines of Wantai Bio and Watson Bio have been approved successively, and the supply side of bivalent HPV vaccines has gradually expanded.

The approval of domestic bivalent vaccines has provided an increase for the market. In the first half of 2022, Wantai Biological Bivalent HPV vaccines issued a total of 140 batches; on February 6, Watson Bio stated on the investor interaction platform that the company At present, bivalent HPV vaccine has completed the access of more than 82% of domestic provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities).

　　The production of nine-valent HPV vaccine is the only one.

In my country, the supply of nine-valent vaccines has long been monopolized by Merck.

　　However, based on the background that Merck's nine-valent vaccine is applicable to people aged 9 to 45, Merck's nine-valent vaccine is increasing its volume in China.

On January 21, Zhifei Biotech and Merck renewed the exclusive agency agreement for vaccine products.

In the agreement, the basic purchase amount of HPV vaccine in the second half of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 is 21.406 billion yuan, 32.326 billion yuan, 26.033 billion yuan and 17.892 billion yuan respectively, and the total basic purchase amount is 97.957 billion yuan. The specific amount is subject to the order confirmed in writing by both parties.

From 2021 to the first half of 2023, the basic purchase amount of HPV vaccine of Zhifei Biotech was 28.106 billion yuan, and the basic purchase amount increased by 249%.

　　It is understood that the current domestic nine-valent vaccine is also on the way to speed up.

Wantai Biology mentioned in its 2022 semi-annual report that the phase III clinical trial and industrialization of the nine-valent HPV vaccine are progressing smoothly, and the head-to-head clinical trial with Jiadaxiu 9 has completed the clinical trial site and specimen testing work, and is in progress Statistical analysis of the data, the completion of the enrollment work for the bridging clinical trial at a young age, the construction of a commercial production workshop has been completed, and the research on industrial scale-up production is underway.

　　The research report released by Essence Securities in September 2022 once stated that in terms of nine-valent vaccines, five domestic companies have entered phase III clinical research, namely Bowei Bio, Wantai Biology, Kangle Guard, Beijing Anbaisheng Bio/Rike Biology, Zerun Bio (subsidiary of Watson Biology), it is expected that a variety of nine-valent HPV vaccines may be launched one after another in 2025 and later and form competition.