Over 100K from Mumbai got vaccine shots
MUMBAI: After vaccinating 5,707 beneficiaries on Thursday, Mumbai crossed the milestone of 100,000 beneficiaries. A total of 101,364 people have been vaccinated in Mumbai since the drive began on January 16. Of these, 85,034 are healthcare workers (HCWS) and 16,330 are frontline workers (FLWS). The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began the second phase, administering vaccines to FLWS, on February 4. The civic body will begin administering the second shot of vaccine to HCWS who were part of the first phase from February 15.
On Thursday, the target was 9,375 beneficiaries, of which 3,825 were HCWS and 5,550 were FLWS. However, 1,989
HCWS (52%) and 3,718 FLWS (67%) turned up, reporting a 61% turnout. Minor adverse effects were reported by 11 beneficiaries and they were kept under observation for 30 minutes before being discharged. Altogether, 121 beneficiaries have reported minor side effects so far.
There are 23 vaccination centres in the city, operated by 125 teams, of which 51 teams administer vaccine shots to HCWS and 74 teams administer vaccine shots to FLWS. So far, the highest turnout in Mumbai was on February 1 (93.41%) and the average turnout for the past 20 days is above 70%.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in charge of BMC’S public health department, said, “BMC noticed that wherever senior doctors have not participated and taken their own vaccine shots, the turnout is low. Where senior doctors have also taken the vaccine, other HCWS are more confident and the turnout is high.” With the COWIN app, which manages the vaccination drive, often failing to inform registered HCWS of their vaccination appointments, BMC is using ward war rooms to contact people, said Kakani. “To increase the turnout, we are thinking private hospitals to vaccinate their own staff,” he said.