Mumbai civic body to set up 48 centres, form 500 teams for Covid-19 vaccine distribution

BMC plans to vaccinate 1.25 lakh frontline workers in 15 days after the vaccine arrives

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to set up at least 48 vaccination centres and form 500 teams for seamless distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine in the city.

Representational photo (REUTERS)

In the first meeting of BMC’s task force for vaccination on Wednesday, the civic body decided to form 500 teams of five members each. These teams will directly report to the task force headed by additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani, who is in charge of health at the BMC.

BMC plans to vaccinate 1.25 lakh frontline workers in 15 days after the vaccine arrives, and the second dose will be administered in 15 days after the buffer of 28 days between the two doses is over.

According to BMC officials, the first target will be to vaccinate frontline workers followed by the police force and conservancy workers in the second phase. In the third phase, all citizens above the age of 50 will be vaccinated. The civic body is also developing a mechanism where a text message will be sent to senior citizens to get vaccinated.

The database collected during ‘My Family, My Responsibility’ campaign will be used for sending text messages. The initial target, post frontline workers, is to vaccinate around one crore population of Mumbai. Further, it has been decided that the city will have a minimum of 48 vaccination centres by maintaining a ratio of two to three vaccine centres in each of the 24 administrative wards. The number of centres in each ward will increase or decrease depending on the size and population of a particular ward.

The city has 24 administrative wards across the island city western and eastern suburbs.

According to BMC officials, they will use its dispensaries, civic hospitals and schools that will act as vaccine distribution centres in every ward. The distribution will take place in a close environment and not in open ground to ensure proper cold storage of vaccine doses. In the coming week, the BMC is expected to float bids for procurement of deep freezers for storage of vaccines. For now, the vaccine will be stored at the Central vaccine storage facility by the BMC in Kanjurmarg.

Kakani added, “We will use a network of our municipal dispensaries, civic hospitals and civic schools where vaccine distribution centres will be set up. All wards have already identified such spots. Also, vaccination will be done in a closed environment, considering the vaccine doses will require certain temperatures to be maintained for which cold storage will be required.”

According to BMC officials, final distribution plan will be decided post the Central government lays down its guidelines. Representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) were present the meeting. They have expressed satisfaction over the preparedness, said BMC officials.

According to BMC officials, the final distribution plan will be decided post the Central government lays guidelines for the same. The number of distributions centres will also go up post private institutions are permitted for vaccine distribution, said BMC officials.

The central government, two months ago, has already formed an expert committee comprising representatives from all relevant ministries and institutions, and the state government has also announced the formation of a task force to oversee all aspects of its Covid-19 vaccine plan – from the identification of the vaccine to buying to financing the purchase to distribution and administration.