Cannot expect 100 per cent turn out on day 1, says BKC jumbo COVID-19 centre's dean

BKC jumbo COVID-19 centre. Pic/Ankita Mishra

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, on Tuesday, announced that everybody above the age of 45 can get inoculated with the coronavirus vaccine from April 1.

As per the fresh mandate, the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in the government and private centers of Mumbai, on Thursday.

In an exclusive conversation with mid-day online, Dr. Rajesh Dere, Dean of BKC jumbo COVID care centre revealed how the response in the centre, on day 1 was.

He said, "We cannot expect a 100 per cent turn out on day 1, we need to motivate people, however, the response in BKC was good. We have vaccinated about 4,000 beneficiaries till the evening." He added, "BKC has started working in two shifts from today (April 1) and we are expecting beneficiaries to turn up till 9 pm."

(This article will be updated with the total number of inoculated beneficiaries in BKC COVID-19 centre on day 1 when mid-day online obtains the official data of the whole day.)

He also said, "while BKC has not received any official intimation from higher authorities about keeping the centre functional on holidays, if we do, we will definitely implement that as well."

Upon asking if people can forgo the safety norms after taking both doses of the vaccine, Dr. Dere said, "Absolutely not, people need to wear masks, follow social distancing norms and keep their hands sanitized even after getting inoculated."

"COVID-appropriate behavior needs to continue until the government of India officially undeclares the pandemic."

When asked how long could it take for the number of fresh daily cases to decline, he said, "earlier we were following the safety protocols strictly and that helped us reduce the number of fresh cases, if we start following the rules, we can go back to that again. It can take 21 days to 1 month provided the norms are strictly followed."