37,563 aged 45-59 vaccinated in Mumbai

As the city started to vaccinate all citizens in aged 45-59, irrespective of their comorbidities, on Thursday, the turnout of beneficiaries in this age group increased drastically compared to the figures so far

As the city started to vaccinate all citizens in aged 45-59, irrespective of their comorbidities, on Thursday, the turnout of beneficiaries in this age group increased drastically compared to the figures so far.

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On Thursday, Mumbai vaccinated 37,563 beneficiaries in this age group, of which 270 beneficiaries received their second dose, in comparison to the earlier average of 5000-6000 beneficiaries from this age group in the past week. The average turnout was even lower in the beginning of March. On March 31, 4,896 beneficiaries in the 45-59 age group were vaccinated; on March 30, 4,792 and 3,023 on March 29.

Effectively, the overall number of beneficiaries vaccinated increased on Thursday increased to 55,870 across 116 centres, in comparison to the average of 40,000 to 45,000 beneficiaries vaccinated per day in the past few weeks. Of the 55,870, 3,050 received their second dose; 10,203 senior citizens received their first dose, and 373 senior citizens received their second dose; 3,556 frontline workers received their first dose, and 1,867 frontline workers received their second dose; 1,768 healthcare workers received their first dose, and 540 healthcare workers received their second dose. 12 beneficiaries reported minor side effects after receiving their shots.

In the first week of March, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation began vaccinating senior citizens and citizens between the age of 45-59 with comorbidities. Overall, 4,000,000 Mumbaiites are above the age of 45 years, 2,300,000 are senior citizens, and 300,000 are citizens between the age of 45 and 59 with comorbidities, as per data collected by the civic body during the My Family, My Responsibility drive.

Until Wednesday, 102,475 citizens between the age of 45 and 59 years were vaccinated. This figure shot up to 139,768 on Thursday.

Many vaccination centres saw crowds. At Dahisar jumbo vaccination centre, the crowd was a mix of senior citizens and those above 45 years. Among them, many were above the age of 45 and wanted to rush to get vaccinated on the first day itself. Vimal Patel, 45, Dahisar resident, said, “I do a lot of field work for sales, and hence I was waiting to get myself vaccinated.” Rakesh Srivastava, 47, an advertising professional from Kandivli, said, “I have been taking medicines for blood pressure, but I did not have any doctor’s certificate, and hence my vaccination got delayed. The process was very smooth.”

Four vaccination centres in the city – Nair Hospital, Rajawadi Hospital, KEM Hospital, and the jumbo facility at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) – are now working in two shifts to accommodate the increased load. Mohan Kataria, 67, who came to KEM hospital in Parel, said, “It was smooth once we entered the vaccination centre, but the registration process took a lot of time.”

Meenal Chavan, 48, who came with her husband Manohar to KEM hospital, said, “We don’t have any comorbidities. There are other senior citizens in my family, but they will decide on taking the shot based on our experience.”

So far, Mumbai has vaccinated a total of 1,054,825 beneficiaries with their first dose, and 154,172 beneficiaries with their second dose.