90L in city yet to get booster shot, but BMC has only 6K Covaxin doses

BMC’s executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare said only 16% of the eligible population have received the booster dose and around 90 lakh people are yet to take it. “Currently, we have around 6,000-7,000 doses of Covaxin, but no Covishield or Corbevax. We are awaiting instructions from the state government to increase screening and boost immunisation.”

Even as the country is bracing up for a possible surge in Covid-19 cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has only 6,000 Covaxin doses left while there have been no stocks of Covishield or Corbevax for the last few months.

Relatives of passengers waiting at the city airport on Friday. (Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

BMC’s executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare said only 16% of the eligible population have received the booster dose and around 90 lakh people are yet to take it. “Currently, we have around 6,000-7,000 doses of Covaxin, but no Covishield or Corbevax. We are awaiting instructions from the state government to increase screening and boost immunisation.”

Meanwhile, the state health department has sought 10 lakh Covaxin doses from the centre.

“We have a stock of 17 lakh doses and have requested the union government for another 10 lakh shots,” principal secretary Sanjay Khandare said.

Municipal commissioner I S Chahal said they have already started the genome sequencing of samples.

“We had earlier decided to close down the Covid-19 ward at Seven Hills hospital but now we have kept it on hold,” he said, adding there are more than 15,000 beds available in 42 hospitals across the city.

However, there is no shortage of vaccines with private hospitals.

“We can’t stock up too many doses as they would expire due to lack of demand. But there is no shortage as such. Besides, all the hospitals have been asked to keep a dedicated ward ready,” Dr Gautam Bhansali, chief coordinator of private hospitals for vaccination and Covid-19, said.

State surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate said they are trying to improve vaccine coverage by administering the precautionary or booster dose to the eligible population.

The state will also be conducting a mock drill to assess its preparedness, he said. “Health infrastructure, machinery, logistics, and manpower will be put to test on December 27.”

He further said though there are adequate number of ventilators, oxygen plants, oxygen concentrators, and other such devices in the state-run facilities, there is a need to ensure they are all functional as many of them have not been used for months.

Khandare said the health department has not taken a call on who will be included in the new task force.

It has been decided that 2% of all international passengers arriving at the city airport shall undergo a RT-PCR test, which will be free of cost. The lab shall make provisions to send a digital copy of the test result to the passengers, a MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Limited) spokesperson said.

Corbevax has been approved by the centre as the booster dose for all adults, even those who have previously received Covaxin or Covishield. Until August, it was only used on children in the 12-14 age group and Covaxin for those in the 15-18 bracket. Covishield is used exclusively for the inoculation of adult population.