Vax drive for 45+ in city suspended for 3 days

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday said vaccination for the 18-44 age group will not start on May 1, but only after adequate stock of vaccine doses is available. The ongoing vaccination drive for those above 45 years will be suspended for three days till May 2 due to shortage of vials. The civic body also appealed to citizens above 45 years of age not to crowd at vaccination centres, fearing they would get crowded after May 1 as the two groups will have different arrangements for vaccination.

Also, the Maharashtra government on Thursday formally announced the extension of its lockdown for a fortnight after May 1. The state on April 21 had put strict restrictions on the movement of people till May 1, but with Covid-19 cases remaining upwards of 60,000 daily, it extended the lockdown till May 15.According to BMC officials, the stock that they will have in their hand after vaccination on Friday will not be enough to keep the vaccination drive running through the weekend.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, BMC, said, “We have decided to suspend the vaccination drive in Mumbai for three days between April 30 and May 2. We may hardly have around 10,000 vaccine doses in our stock after Thursday. However, if we receive around 100,000 vaccine doses, we might restart the vaccination drive in the city.”

Kakani added, “With this, the vaccination drive that was going to start for the age group between 18 and 44 years is also postponed. For this age group, the drive will start only when we have sufficient stock.”