62 private hospitals in Mumbai restart Covid-19 vaccination drive

On Monday, 39,300 beneficiaries got the jab as compared to 33,256 on Sunday. Of the 39,300 citizens beneficiaries, 786 were healthcare workers, 2,356 were frontline workers, 10,541 were senior citizens and 25,617 were aged between 45 and 59 years.

The number of Covid-19 beneficiaries slightly went up on Monday as 62 private vaccination centres resumed vaccination with 39,300 beneficiaries getting the jab as compared to 33,256 on Sunday. Of the 39,300 citizens who were vaccinated on Monday, 786 were healthcare workers, 2,356 were frontline workers, 10,541 were senior citizens and 25,617 were aged between 45 and 59 years.

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Last week on Thursday, 25 private vaccination centres were shut owing to shortage of vaccine and the number increased to 50 by Friday. Several government facilities also ran out of vaccine doses, leading to around 50% vaccination centres remaining shut in the city. However, over the weekend, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received 235,000 vaccine doses, enabling resumption of vaccination drive.

According to BMC officials, nine other private hospitals will purchase the vaccine this week, post which they will be given permission to restart vaccination drive.

Overall, more than 1.7 million citizens including healthcare and frontline workers have been vaccinated in the city so far with around 50,000 citizens getting the jab daily. But the number has recently gone down owing to shortage of vaccine doses last week.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said, “The number of beneficiaries will go up in the city as days pass and as we get more doses. On Monday night, we are expected to be getting additional 120,000 vaccine doses that will last the coming week. However, we need more stockpile to ensure that we have enough stock to launch more vaccination centres.”

Meanwhile, BMC on Sunday said it will now allow private hospitals to set up Covid-19 vaccination camps at private offices too. But BMC officials said they would not be able to start such a drive till they receive sufficient vaccine doses.

Speaking on tie-up with private offices, Dr Mangala Gomare, chief of BMC’s public health department, had on Sunday said, “We will give permissions to private hospitals to tie up with offices having over 100 employees to set up vaccination camps there. This will help us cover maximum citizens in the permitted age group.” This is in line with the Central government’s guidelines, civic officials said.

Dr Gomare had added, “There will be a set of protocols to be followed by private hospitals like having doctors and an emergency vehicle in case of adverse effect. The whole process will be done as per the guidelines issued by the government from time to time.”