Mumbai: 31 civic vaccination centres vanish in a fortnight

A teenager reacts as a nurse prepares to jab at BYL Nair Hospital, on Saturday

As Mumbai races to open up, leaving behind the shadow of Covid-19, the number of civic vaccination centres has dropped by 31 to 239 in a fortnight. With a big chunk of eligible citizens in the city already inoculated, the footfall at these facilities has become a trickle. This has prompted calls for better use of the spaces. An average 21,000 people were vaccinated daily in the city last week.

Mumbai had 296 civic vaccination centres till November 2021 and the number dipped to 270 until a fortnight ago. Now, the city has 239 such facilities, as per BMC data. Officials said the civic centres collectively jabbed 1.5 lakh beneficiaries a day in October and November last year.

Beneficiaries being given inoculated at Nair hospital, on Saturday. Pics/Ashish Raje

Earlier, the BMC had roped in social welfare centres, private halls to speed up the vaccination drive. But hardly 30 to 40 people visit these centres every day. As a result, civic officials said, there is a growing demand to release the venues. The average daily vaccination in February was 28,000.

A civic official said that the number of beneficiaries coming for the first dose has come down to around 2,000 daily and most of them are in the age groups of 15-17 and 18-44 who need their second dose. Of the 3.65 lakh children who had taken the first dose, 2.15 lakh have got the second shot. In the 18-44 category, 6.20 lakh have received at least one dose. Of these, 5.33 lakh are fully vaccinated.

Till March 5, officials said, 1.06 crore people had received the first dose, while 92.71 lakh were fully vaccinated. About 3.46 lakh beneficiaries have been given the booster shot. Officials said the BMC is considering closing down more vaccination centres and having mobile units that will administer doses to all categories.

21K
Average daily vaccination doses in city in past week