Fully vaccinated can now board Mumbai locals, says Maharashtra CM

“There will be an app for this where the person can get the pass to travel. There is also a system for those who don’t have smartphones," Uddhav Thackeray said.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced on Sunday that fully vaccinated residents of Mumbai, who have completed 14 days after the second dose, can travel in local trains from August 15.

Currently, local residents, except for those employed in a few essential sectors and government services, are not allowed to board Mumbai suburban trains. (Reuters)

“There will be an app for this where the person can get the pass to travel. There is also a system for those who don’t have smartphones. We will have an offline system too. We are also making this appeal to offices -- to stagger work timings and allow those who can WFH to continue,” he said during a live webcast.

Mumbai has, so far, fully vaccinated 1.9 million people.

Currently, local residents, except for those employed in a few essential sectors and government services, are not allowed to board Mumbai suburban trains.

The CM also warned people against lowering their guards.

“It’s (Covid) still here. We have seen Covid waves too. What we have learnt is that if we need to arrest the spread, we have to follow Covid protocols and increase vaccination. We have a capacity to vaccinate up to 15 lakh (1.5 million) in a day too as we have already vaccinated 8 lakh (800,000) in a day. We are improving on our health infrastructure. We have taken steps to prepare for a possible third wave...,” he informed.

On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 5,508 new Covid cases and 151 deaths. Of this, Mumbai logged 305 and nine deaths.