Covid vaccination: Mumbai’s average turnout is 71%

n January 16 (day one of the vaccination drive), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) vaccinated 1,926 health workers, but as the CoWIN app, an automated system developed by the Centre to monitor and track the inoculation process, developed glitches, the drive was put on hold

The city has seen an average turnout of 71.5% at its Covid-19 vaccination centres over the past nine inoculation days — 37,731 health workers of the targeted 52,714 beneficiaries have received their first vaccine shots since January 19, when the drive resumed.

(Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

On January 16 (day one of the vaccination drive), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) vaccinated 1,926 health workers, but as the CoWIN app, an automated system developed by the Centre to monitor and track the inoculation process, developed glitches, the drive was put on hold.

This is the civic body’s phase one of the drive, meant for 125,000 registered health workers.

Dr Mangala Gomare, executive health officer of BMC, said, “To increase the turnout for vaccination, BMC on Saturday held a massive walk-in drive. Any health worker, who had already registered for vaccination, was allowed to walk into any of our 12 vaccination centres. This drive was very successful as we vaccinated the highest number of people so far on Saturday.”

On Saturday, BMC vaccinated 6,351 people — an 80% turnout. On Friday, it vaccinated 5,510 people — a 72% turnout; the highest turnout was on January 22, at 92%, when BMC vaccinated 3,539 health workers, followed by January 23’s 90% turnout when BMC vaccinated 4,374 beneficiaries.

The civic body has been facing challenges in communicating the date and time of vaccination to beneficiaries. A senior civic officer said, “We have received many complaints from beneficiaries that they did not receive the automated message, or received it late, after the drive for the day was completed, or even the next day. Some beneficiaries are directly receiving messages asking for feedback of their vaccination dose, even though they were not vaccinated as they did not know their turn had come.”

Dr Gomare said, “BMC is now doing double work. We are calling health workers from the control rooms set up at the wards, informing them to come in for vaccination. We are not relying on the automated message system. Daily reports of such complaints are being sent to the government.”

The civic body also increased the number of vaccination centres to 12 from 11 on January 29, and to 11 from 10 on January 27, to scale its vaccination capacity. In the coming days, BMC will also open vaccination centres at Jumbo facilities in Dahisar, Mulund, and Richarson and Cruddas (RC) in Byculla. The other centres are the four major hospitals — King Edward Memorial Hospital, BYL Nair Hospital, Cooper hospital and Sion Hospital; four peripheral hospitals — Bhabha at Bandra, V N Desai at Santacruz, Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar and Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar hospital, Kandivali; the Covid facility at Bandra Kurla Complex; and the state-run JJ Hospital in South Mumbai, NESCO in Goregaon, and Seven Hills hospital.