Mumbai’s vaccine drive gets shot in arm as pvt firms donate doses to BMC

At a time when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is facing a shortage of vaccines on a weekly basis, corporate companies are coming forward with donations to facilitate the free mass immunisation programme for the general public

At a time when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is facing a shortage of vaccines on a weekly basis, corporate companies are coming forward with donations to facilitate the free mass immunisation programme for the general public.

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BMC gets the doses from the Central government. But often due to inconsistent supply of the doses, it faces shortage of vaccines, which is affecting the immunisation programme in the city that has a population of around 20 million.

To facilitate the vaccination, corporate companies like Citi Bank and Godrej, through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, are vaccinating the general population through BMC’s free vaccination programme.

“Both the Citi Bank and Godrej approached us with the noble intention to vaccinate 100,000 people each. So rather than directly donating the vials to BMC, we have asked them to directly provide free vaccinations to the general public through Co-WIN app. A national drug manufacturing company has also promised to donate 50,000 vials in the coming days,” BMC’s executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare said.

Citi Bank along with Jaslok Hospital approached the G-South ward office to vaccinate 100,000 slum dwellers from Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia.

“They have collectively applied to us for free vaccinations. We are also assisting them in beneficiary mobilisation with the help of eight-nine non-government organisations (NGOs). We approached Dharavi Sports Complex, the first quarantine centre in Dharavi, which readily agreed to provide the premises for the drive,” said G-South’s ward officer Kiran Dighavkar.

“If everything goes as planned, we will be able to start the vaccination programme by Wednesday,” he added.

The hospital did not divulge much information. A senior official of the hospital said, “It is still in the initial stage of planning.”

Similarly, Godrej has decided to inoculate 100,000 people at their vaccination camp in Vikhroli through CoWIN app.

“People who want to get vaccinated at BMC centres would be directed to Godrej’s camp through the CoWIN app. Despite getting vaccinated in a private centre, these people won’t be charged,” said Dr Gomare.

Despite repeated attempts, the company did not respond to HT’s calls and messages over the issue.

In June, the Union health ministry declared that the Centre will buy 75% of jabs from vaccine makers for free supply to states, while the private sector will continue to procure the remaining 25%, with the service charge being capped at ₹150 per dose over the fixed price of the vaccine.

Private hospitals and corporate companies buy Serum Institute of India’s (SII) locally manufactured Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine Covishield at ₹600, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin at ₹1,200 and Russian Sputnik V vaccine at ₹948.

Recently, many smaller private companies have also approached BMC to donate vaccines within their capacity.

“These private companies don’t have the financial strength to donate 100,000 vaccines. But it is really encouraging to see that they are willing to contribute in the smallest ways by donating doses ranging from 5,000-20,000,” said Dr Gomare.

Amid the shortage of vaccines, BMC has administered the first dosage to 54% of the population above 18 years who are eligible for the mass immunisation programme in the city. A total of 6.2 million doses have been administered so far, of which almost 5.8 million doses are of Covishield. There are only 1.1 million beneficiaries who have received both the Covishield doses, while 4.6 million are waiting for the second dose.