Two vaccination centres open for 14 hours daily in Mumbai

With the plan to increase the daily inoculation target to 100,000, BMC has set up more than 100 vaccination centres.

At a time when the city is witnessing the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra Covid-19 task force emphasises on more inoculation to contain the spread. Amid a drop in the mass immunisation programme, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is starting double shifts till late night to increase the overall turnout.

A citizen gets vaccinated against Covid-19 at Rajawadi Hospital in Mumbai. (HT FILE)

To give a boost to the vaccination programme, from Thursday, BMC started two vaccination centres where inoculation service will be available for 14 hours daily.

“At the initial stage, we are starting the double shift at two hospitals including Rajawadi Hospital. Now, probable beneficiaries can get vaccinated between 7am and 9pm. With this extension, we are hopeful that we will record better turnout,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, BMC. “Following this, we will extend the facility in other centres,” he added.

With the plan to increase the daily inoculation target to 100,000, BMC has set up more than 100 vaccination centres. Despite this, the number of beneficiaries across three groups – healthcare workers, frontline workers and individuals above the age of 45 – has remained stagnant.

For instance, 40,502 people were given shots at 65 centres on March 8. But an analysis of the data of the past six days shows the average turnout of beneficiaries has remained around 41,000 across over 100 vaccination centres. On March 18, 39,644 people got inoculated at 91 centres. The number surged to 42,740 at 92 centres on March 19, followed by 49,547 at 94 centres the next day. However, the turnout decreased to 42,420 at 100 centres the next day (March 21). On March 23, the number of centres increased to 103 but the number of beneficiaries dropped to 37,120. On Wednesday (March 24), almost 6.6% drop was recorded with 34,633 beneficiaries at 104 centres.

BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal in a statement on Thursday said in the coming days, the civic body has resolved to vaccinate 100,000 people daily.

Need for awareness

Doctors highlighted the need to increase awareness among people and answer to their doubts and queries about vaccines. “To win the battle against the second wave and mutation of the virus, we have to increase daily testing and vaccination. Just like Covid-19 testing, BMC will have to bring the facility of vaccination to people’s doorsteps. Door-to-door counselling is also necessary, especially in slums,” said Dr Deepak Baid, president of Association of Medical Consultant.

BMC has joined hands with non-government organisations (NGOs) to facilitate the process. Sweta Mehra, a vaccinator at Dahisar jumbo centre, said a number people refuse to take the vaccine even after reaching the vaccination centre and leave. “They ask us questions about the vaccine’s efficiency rate, side effects and sustainability of antibodies in the body. Many Covid recovered patients are also avoiding getting the jab presuming they are safe from reinfection,” she said.

Rupali Basu, a patient with chronic kidney disease who is on dialysis for two years, has not gotten the vaccination yet as she has doubts about its effect. “Along with kidney issues, I also have diabetes. So, I am quite speculative. I don’t want to develop any side effects because of my health,” she said.

Shortage of vaccine

Though Mumbai has enough vaccine doses, districts like Thane are facing shortages. All corporations managed to continue administering the booster doses, but some found it difficult to give the first dose to senior citizens. The situation has improved this week, but without continuous supply of doses, Thane may face a shortage soon.

TMC had to administer Covaxin to all for one week due to the shortage. Those keen on getting Covishield had to wait. Since the start of this week, the city has been administering only Covishield vaccines. They are expecting additional doses of both Covishield and Covaxin soon.

To adjust with the shortage of vaccines, the civic body has rescheduled the timings of vaccination centres. Of the 51 functional vaccination centres, only 18 are operating on all days while the remaining are working on alternate days.

“Of the 120,000 who have been vaccinated, 9,817 are in the age group of 45 to 59 years. Around 59,892 beneficiaries are aged above 60 while and the rest are frontline workers and healthcare workers,” said TMC chief Dr Vipin Sharma.

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has administered 120,000 vaccines while Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) administered 43,588 doses so far.

KDMC was administering only second doses for two weeks. “Currently there are enough doses of both Covishield and Covaxin, but if we do not get additional vaccines, we shall be out of stock within four days,” said a senior official from KDMC.

Meanwhile, the jumbo vaccination facility, opened by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Saturday, saw shortage of vaccines with only five of the 16 booths operational.

Inputs from Ankita G Menon and Sajana Nambiar