10 August,2021 07:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
The gap between Covishield doses and unavailability of vaccines means not all railway staff is vaccinated. Representation pic
The Railways had set a target of August 15 to fully vaccinate all its city employees, however, it has been lagging due to the increased gap between two doses of Covishield and frequent unavailability of vaccines.
As of Sunday, 73.18 per cent of the total 32,547 employees on Central Railway's Mumbai division have either received both their Covid-19 shots or at least the first dose.
"Among the 32,547 employees, 11,847 are aged 45 years and above and all of them have been vaccinated. Whereas, only 58 per cent (11,990) of the staff in the 18-44 years age bracket have been inoculated so far," said a CR spokesperson.
As many as 8,710 CR employees are yet to receive even their first Covid-19 vaccine dose. "We will try to cover most of them by August 15," the spokesperson added.
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On Western Railway, 80 per cent of the employees have either received the first or both the doses, including over 60 per cent in the Mumbai division. "Among them, 90 per cent of the RPF and medical staff have been covered. We are working on achieving the 100 per cent vaccination target at the earliest," a spokesperson said.
Officials said the mandatory extension between two doses of Covishield and limitations on the availability of vaccines led to a delay. They added that despite these odds, the railways have managed to vaccinate a significant number of employees.
There are 10 vaccination centres on CR's Mumbai division - at Lonavala, Kurla, Igatpuri, Matunga, Railway school Kalyan, CSMT, Juinagar, Parel, Panvel and Thane. WR's Mumbai division has 12 centres including Jagjivan Ram Hospital, Mumbai Central station, Badhwar Park, Churchgate, Lower Parel, Mahalaxmi, Bandra, Borivli, Surat, Valsad, Amalner and Nandurbar.
Harsh Vora, a commuter, said, "Commuters have been allowed to travel via local trains 14 days after taking their second dose. It is surprising that the vaccination drive of the railways is moving slowly."
8,710
No. of CR staff yet to be vaccinated
