Mumbai: Vaccination for all above 18+ from today

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said that vaccination for all above the age of 18 years will restart on Wednesday in the city, over 40 days after the drive was suspended owing to the shortage of vaccine doses

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said that vaccination for all above the age of 18 years will restart on Wednesday in the city, over 40 days after the drive was suspended owing to the shortage of vaccine doses.

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The Maharashtra government has allowed vaccination for all above 18 years of age from Tuesday. However, the BMC on Tuesday said it will start vaccination from Wednesday or Thursday owing to the arrangements required for the same.

According to civic body officials, to start vaccination for all above the age of 18 years, crowding will be a major concern, hence the BMC did not start vaccination for all above 18 from Tuesday to undertake preparations for the same. The civic body officials said that daily 50% of slots will be available through online booking and the rest slots will be for walk-in.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC said, “Vaccination for all above 18 years of age will start in the city from Wednesday. We have given around 150 doses in each centre for the 18-45 age group. Initially, it will be limited for now and going ahead we will increase the doses as the response increases and we get more stock.”

However, according to BMC officials, if there is crowding at centres, they will develop a mechanism to control the same.

As of Tuesday, BMC says they have vaccine stock that will last for around five days.

Every vaccination centre is given 200 to 300 vaccine doses as per the demand and usage. Currently, there are 380 active vaccination centres in the city, of which, 268 are active civic-run centres, 20 centres are of state and Central government, and the remaining 92 are private vaccination centres.

The BMC had from Saturday started vaccination for the 30 to 44 age group based on getting permission from the state government.

On the second consecutive day, more than 100,000 vaccine doses were administered in the city. On Tuesday, 113,135 vaccine doses were administered in the city. Overall, since January 16, 4,684,050 vaccine doses have been administered in the city.

The BMC had suspended vaccination for the 18 to 45 age group on May 12, around 12 days after the drive was started on May 1. At that time, the reason for the suspension of the vaccination was owing to the shortage of vaccine doses.

However, now as the Central government has announced to supply 75% of the vaccine requirement, the civic body hopes to resume drive for all above 18 years of age in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the BMC has also decided to vaccinate on priority “potential super spreaders” or those who are in touch with multiple people daily, to control the spread of Covid-19, amid the threat of a third wave.

This category includes autorickshaw and taxi drivers, hawkers, delivery executives, restaurant staff, daily wage workers, among others.

However, with the decision to allow vaccination for all above 18 years of age, the plan to vaccinate potential super spreaders will be put on hold.