In January, when the Coronavirus inoculation programme rolled out for frontline workers, Dr Vivek Talaulikar, CEO - Global Hospital, realised that they will need to start using the vaccine vials judiciously. “We learnt on the very first day that opening too many vials at the same time could lead to wastage,” he says. Each vial typically holds 10 vaccine shots or 0.5 ml each. And each vial  must be utilised within four hours once opened. 

Currently, this Parel-based hospital has three booths operational for vaccination. At 5 pm every evening, when the crowd begins thinning, they shut two booths and operate one. To utilise excess doses, messages are circulated among staff groups to put in a request if someone would like to get vaccinated. Workers have been instructed to give vaccines to people who have registered, but are on the waitlist to minimise the chances of vaccines being discarded. “The staff coordinates to understand how many more shots are remaining in existing open packs. A new pack is opened only if the footfalls increase by 10 during the last hour before closing the booth.” Details of the recipients are tracked through the CoWin app to evaluate if they are due for the second dose. Every day, the hospitals and COVID-19 vaccination centres need to submit a report of the number of people who have been vaccinated to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).