Mumbai: No takers, no stock for Covid-19 vaccines

The declining figures of COVID19 patients in the city have also decreased the desire to get the vaccine against it Once people stood in long queues at municipal vaccination centres now these places donrsquot report even a single jab in a dayThe stocks of Covishield and Corbevax with the BMC are also over as the state health department has allegedly not provided them Only few thousand doses of Covaxin are left An official said the Centre has not been providing the vaccinesAccording to the civic vaccination report in the past three days only 185 people turned up for jabs in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC and government centers On December 8 49 people were vaccinated the next day 55 were jabbed and on the 10 81 people got the vaccinePeople queued up at the BKC Jumbo COVID19 Vaccination Centre File picShadab KhanA senior BMC official said ldquoFor the past two months vaccination figures barely crossed the threedigit mark There were few takers in private hospitals but there was very little response at BMC and government vaccination centersrdquo In 2021 the BMC had opened more than 300 vaccination centers across the city so that the maximum number of people got vaccinated Currently there are 65 civic vaccination centers Another official from the BMC health department said ldquoWe donrsquot have stock of Covishield and Corbevax In October we asked the state health department for them but havenrsquot received the stocks We have around 5000 doses of Covaxin Now the threat of COVID19 is almost gone so people are least bothered about vaccination Only youngsters who are going abroad or participating in a competition or those with parents who are bothered about their safety have been coming for the vaccinerdquoAlso read Mumbai Row over child ICU at JJ hospitalState Immunisation Officer Dr Sachin Desai said ldquoThere was a time when there was a huge demand for the vaccine But now as the virus has changed the behaviour of people too has In a single day not even a thousand people across the state are taking the vaccine The Centre has also stopped giving us vaccinesrdquoHowever Executive Health Officer of the BMC Dr Mangala Gomare said ldquoAs per the guidelines of the technical committee one must take a precautionary dose of the vaccine and teenagers who have been recommended two doses must complete themrdquoDr Hemlata Arora senior consultant at Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital said ldquoThe overall intensity of the disease has gone down so even if people do not take vaccines then it is okay But there has to be a reasonable supply of vaccines so if someone wants to take them they can avail private health facilitiesrdquoDr Behram Pardiwala director internal medicine Wockhardt hospital said ldquoYou canrsquot blame the government if it is not giving vaccines free of cost It has fulfilled its responsibility But it must carry on Information Education amp Communication for peoplerdquo10889395No of first doses given9808155No of second doses given1447640No of precautionary doses given in the city