Mumbai far behind rural Maharashtra in its Covid-19 vaccination turnout

Rural districts in Maharashtra are recording a better turnout for inoculation than Mumbai, despite having better accessibility, shows data shared by the state health ministry

Rural districts in Maharashtra are recording a better turnout for inoculation than Mumbai, despite having better accessibility, shows data shared by the state health ministry. Officials said most vaccination centres in Mumbai have completed vaccinating their staff members in the first phase, the response of healthcare workers (HCWs) from other hospitals is poor.

A Covid-19 vaccine shot being administered to a frontline worker at Shatabdi Hospital. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

In the last four immunisation sessions, the overall turnout of beneficiaries in Mumbai has gradually dipped. On February 1, Mumbai recorded 93.4% turnout, which plunged to 80% the next day. On February 3, the turnout dropped further to 76% and on February 4, it went down to 54%.

Data shows that more number of shortlisted beneficiaries are getting inoculated in rural districts than Mumbai. On Thursday, for instance, rural districts like Yavatmal (72%), Jalna (71%), Wardha (71%), Sindhudurg (58%), among others recorded a higher turnout than Mumbai. As per data of the state health department, Mumbai city (south Mumbai) ranked 32 among the 36 districts with the lowest turnout (40%) on Thursday.

Officials have cited several reasons behind it. When the mass immunisation programme started on January 16, the primary focus was to vaccinate HCWs associated with the immunisation centres. After 20 sessions since then, most staffers have already been inoculated.

“We have inoculated 90% of our staffers including senior doctors, resident doctors, nurses, ward boys, among others who came forward for vaccination. So, the flow of beneficiaries has decreased recently,” said a senior doctor from BYL Nair Hospital.

Currently, most vaccination centres have started shortlisting HCWs from other hospitals. But many aren’t showing up for two reasons- centres are far from their hospitals and delay in intimation.

“Some HCWs have planned surgeries or other commitments, so they often fail to reach the centre on the given day as it is a time-consuming affair,” said the officer.

To address the issue, private hospitals have already approached the civic body seeking permission to start an immunisation programme in their hospital premises. “It will be more accessible for staffers to get vaccinated at the hospitals which will ultimately increase the overall turnout of the city,” said Dr Gautam Bhansali, consultant physician at Bombay Hospital.

From Thursday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) simultaneously started vaccinating frontline workers (FLWs) along with HCWs at 18 vaccination centres in the city. But due to the technical glitch in the centralised app - CoWIN, the FLWs were informed late about their scheduled appointment. As a result of this, only 58 people out of the 1,800 targeted came forward for vaccination on the first day.

“Till Tuesday night, the application was functioning properly but later again, it started having technical errors, due to which the turnout of FLWs was less on Thursday. However, we have directed all staff to alert the beneficiaries manually, until the app is functioning properly,” said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner.

From February 8, the civic body is likely to start vaccinating police personnel in the list of FLWs. Also, walk-in for FLWs will be allowed soon under which any registered FLW on the CoWIN can directly get inoculated even if they don’t have an appointment for that day.