3,700,000 qualify for new phase: BMC data

A total of 3,700,000 Mumbaiites qualify for the next phase of vaccination for those above the age of 45 regardless of comorbidities which starts from April 1, as per data collected by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during its My Family My Responsibility survey

A total of 3,700,000 Mumbaiites qualify for the next phase of vaccination for those above the age of 45 regardless of comorbidities which starts from April 1, as per data collected by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during its My Family My Responsibility survey.

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The drive will take place across 111 centres in the city. Any citizen above the age of 45 can register on the CoWIN application or the Aarogya Setu application to get vaccinated. Of these, 30 centres are in municipal hospitals, 13 are in state and central government hospitals, and 68 are in private hospitals.

Citizens can also walk into any vaccination centres for their vaccine shots. No medical certificate of comorbidities will be required to qualify for this phase of the drive.

Currently, the BMC has been vaccinating senior citizens, and citizens above the age of 45 years who also have comorbidities. Iqbal Singh Chahal, municipal commissioner, said on Tuesday, “At least 4,000,000 citizens qualify for the category of above 45 years, of which 300,000 have comorbidities, our surveys have shown. A total of 2,300,000 citizens are above the age of 60.”

With this, the BMC hopes to inch closer to its target of vaccinating 100,000 citizens per day. It has vaccinating about 40,000 to 45,000 beneficiaries per day, including healthcare and frontline workers, senior citizens and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities, many of whom have received the second

dose of their vaccine shot as well.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in charge of BMC’s public health department, said on Monday, “So far, the turnout in citizens above the age of 45 who also have comorbidities is low. Beneficiaries are afraid to bring medical certificates to validate they have comorbidities, which is a prerequisite to qualify for vaccination at present if you are above 45 years, as they do not want this to go on their medical record. They fear this will interfere with their health insurance systems at a later stage.”