Maharashtra expects phase 2 to boost Covid-19 vaccination turnout

After a two-day delay owing to technical glitches in CoWIN app, the second phase of inoculation, including frontline workers, will begin at some centres in Maharashtra from Wednesday

After a two-day delay owing to technical glitches in CoWIN app, the second phase of inoculation, including frontline workers, will begin at some centres in Maharashtra from Wednesday. Acting on the Centre’s instructions, phase 2 covering frontline workers has begun, even as the first phase for healthcare workers (HCW) is still on.

People taking a group photo at a booth after being administered a Covid-19 vaccine shot at Rajawadi Hospital. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The state authorities have inoculated 309,446 healthcare workers in 10 sessions from January 16 till Monday. Along with about 786,000 HCWs, the state has enrolled more than 600,000 frontline workers. “We have completed dry and trial runs to begin inoculation at some centres from Wednesday. The app went live for frontline workers from Tuesday morning after the initial glitches,” said Dr Archana Patil, director, state health services.

The technical glitches in the centralised CoWIN app delayed the rollout of the second phase, scheduled on February 1. The authorities were facing difficulties sending out messages to the beneficiaries and also in transfer of data from the state to districts.

The state authorities expect the percentage of vaccination to improve after the frontline workers are added to the daily sessions. “Against say a target of 100 people per centre, we have been able to inoculate 75-80 HCWs daily. With the addition of frontline workers, the percentage is expected to improve further. The centres have been flexible in admitting beneficiaries,” said an official from the health department.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said the pace of vaccination will pick up. “After initial technical issues, the vaccination percentage has improved and more beneficiaries are turning up. There would not be any issue during the second phase of the vaccination,” he said.

Although it was a break for the inoculation drive in rest of the state, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) vaccinated 6,387 healthcare workers, out of the 8,000 expected beneficiaries, with a turnout of 80% on Tuesday. Of these, eight people reported minor side effects of dizziness, called Adverse Event following immunization (AEFI), and were kept under observation for 30 minutes and discharged. So far, BMC has vaccinated 53,784 healthcare workers.

It presently has 12 vaccination centres in the city, at four major hospitals – King Edward Memorial, BYL Nair, Cooper and Sion Hospitals; four peripheral hospitals – Bhabha at Bandra, VN Desai at Santacruz, Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar and Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, Kandivli; the Covid facility at Bandra-Kurla Complex; and the state-run JJ Hospital in south Mumbai, NESCO in Goregaon, and SevenHills hospital.

Another health department officer said they have started sending out messages to the frontline workers who are expected to turn up from Wednesday. “The centres are expected to inoculate more and also save the wastage of doses,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the state reported 1,927 new cases and 30 deaths on Tuesday, taking the tally to 2,030,274 and toll to 51,139. Mumbai’s tally touched 309,637 and toll 11,368, after the addition of 334 fresh cases and 7 deaths. The state’s case fatality rate stands at 2.52%.

Pune and Nagpur clocked 188 and 161 cases, respectively. After 4,011 patients recovered on Tuesday, the recovery rate of the state was 95.37%. Maharashtra has 41,586 active patients, the highest (13,487) in Pune.